


RWBY Persona!AU

by FadedNeonzZz



Category: Persona Series, RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Persona Fusion, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Persona AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23136808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadedNeonzZz/pseuds/FadedNeonzZz
Summary: Ruby Rose was a normal girl ready to attend Beacon Academy, little did she know that her first year would be an unforgettable one. Ruby will have to balance both her life as a high school student while battling Shadows in the mysterious Nocturne, making new friends, and enemies along the way to discover the truth about Beacon and her past.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26





	1. The Fool's Journey Begins

Sunday 4/7

It was a nice and sunny early spring afternoon in the countryside as a train sped by with only a few passengers on board. Some were on their afternoon commute, some were students who got stuck with spring break cram school. However there was a young redhead who sat alone, she was tired yet anxious because she was finally about to start high school. Though she was unaware of the life changing events that would defy her expectations.

The train ride had been long, a few hours too long, as she began to dose off she remembered the parting words of her friends who decided to go to a local high school instead. It’s a complete fresh start, she won’t have the same friends she had, nor will her dad be there. The thought made her a little sad, but at least her older sister would be there for her. The train was coming up to a tunnel that went inside a mountain, and the whole car where the girl was sitting went dark. On the other side was a large pacific northwest city known as Vale. As it exited the tunnel, she was greeted by a nice view of the large city 

_Wow!_ The girl thought to herself as she caught a glimpse of the skyline before the train went down another tunnel, and the car went dark again, but this time lights came on. This was probably to indicate that this was the last stop

A mechanical voice began speaking.

“Next stop, the Vale Union station. This is the final stop, please grab all your belongings before exiting the train. If you are transferring...” the announcements continued. The girl then got up from her seat, and grabs her red and black gym bag. She hasn’t been to Vale by herself before but she remembers what her dad told her to do before she left; head straight for the dorms. She made her way up from the tunnel to the streets of Vale. It was a beautiful, bustling, and large city. Car horns can be heard from multiple directions, the sidewalks were packed, if one listened closely they could hear the metro rails passing through underground and above. This was Vale’s Central Square; the busiest part of the city during rush hour. The girl was used to the peace and quiet of living in the countryside of Patch. This was almost a whole different world to her. She heard the news stations talking about who the police were looking for, she wasn’t really that interested. However it was difficult to tune out.

“Police are still on the lookout for the gang known as the White Fang, who robbed a cargo train belonging to the Schnee Diamond and Mining Corporation....”

The news continued as the girl made it to a large intersection, this city was huge. Unfortunately for her, the lights were still green, so she reached for her headphones as she waited for the walk sign to change.

“....in other news, due to a string of robberies and the Vale Police Department is advising all citizens stay indoors at night and only come out only if you have to...”

The girl plugged in the headphones into her phone, she turned on the music then checked the directions to the dorms, it wasn’t too far from the train station. She then noticed something mysterious on her phone. It looked like a demonic symbol. Her curiosity drove her to open it as she didn't remember installing such a strange looking app on her phone. As soon as she touched the app icon she got an intense ringing in her head. The world went silent for a brief moment, the sky turned black as night, all the cars and people disappeared, and the music on her headphones slowed to a crawl before going silent. It took a few seconds for it to register to her, she was somewhere else.

“Excuse me?” A random passerby said “The light changed, you can cross the street”

The redheaded girl was awoken from her trance, then she noticed the sun was still out, the sidewalks were still packed, cars were still blaring their horns, and then she noticed the light had changed. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said as she hurried along

The dorm was only a few blocks away, it was hard to miss too as it had more ornate architecture compared to the basic buildings that surrounded it. The sign read “Beacon Academy Vytal Hall”. Yep, this was it, her new home for the year. The girl walked through the door, and was greeted by an older looking interior that felt strangely cozy, maybe because of the soft carpet. The lobby had two couches facing each other with a table in the middle, a large flat screen TV was attached to the wall in the middle on the right side of the entrance. Not too far from the entrance to the lobby there was a set of stairs that split off into two different directions, both had a sign for the Red wing and the Gold wing. The left side had a counter with a sign-in sheet and piles of flyers for events going on at the school. Behind here sat a woman who looked bored out of her mind and perked up once she noticed someone entered the building.

“Why hello there”, a voice from behind the desk said “You must be the freshman they said was coming today.” A tall platinum blonde woman with green eyes stood up and walked from behind the desk. She wore a white blouse, coupled with a tight black skirt. She also wore black stockings with high heeled leather boots. Truly a woman with a intimidating air to her.

“My name is Professor Glynda Goodwitch, but you’ll refer to me as Professor Goodwitch” she said with authority, "I'm the residential assistant of these dorms"

The girl was already intimidated by the woman’s demeanor and height. However she felt the need to say something, “Uh..nice to meet you...Professor Goodwitch...?” She muttered out with an awkward but friendly smile.

“Right, your dad already sent your stuff, it’s in your room. All I need now is your signature, all it means is that you understand that you’ll be responsible for everything that happens while you're attending Beacon, including here. If you cause any trouble, you will be disciplined” she said with a serious expression and gesturing towards the sign-in sheet on the desk. Based on her tone seems like she has to deal with troublemakers on a daily basis, she probably didn't want to deal with another one.

The young redhead then said, “Okay so, I have to sign here...”

Ruby Rose; the name she wrote down.

Glynda then handed her a key, “Good Miss Rose, now here is the key to your room. Do not lose it.” As Ruby took it, she leaned in closer to her, “I’m serious. Do. Not. Lose it”

Ruby was getting spooked a bit, until she spoke again, “Your room is upstairs to the right on the second floor, and last room down the hallway.”

Ruby quickly picked up her bag and hurried up the stairs. Her room wasn’t hard to find, and as she opened the door to her room it she noticed a large box in the middle of the floor in front of an empty bed which was close the far right corner of the wall, a desk near the foot of the bed, an empty dresser on the left with a miniature bookshelf above it, a small bathroom with a shower to the immediate right near the entrance, blank white walls with old tape markings, and a decent sized window that faced the alley next door. Thankfully it didn’t block her view of the Vale skyline. It was almost like a small hotel room. 

“Well, I guess I better unpack everything”, Ruby thought out loud. She opened the box to find items her dad thought would be important for her to have. A medal from her middle school track meet, a picture of her with her sister and her dad. However she saw another picture that made her stop in her tracks. It was a picture of her deceased mother. Ruby couldn’t stop looking at it, she didn’t remember much about her mom, besides the fact that she left one day and didn’t return. She began to tear up, the thought of her mother always made her feel sad. There was then a knock at her door, she quickly wiped her tears away and opened it.

It was Glynda again, but this time she was holding a small notebook and a card. “I apologize Miss Rose, but I forgot to give you your planner and public transportation pass.” she said sternly, as she handed them to Ruby she continued, “Be sure to keep track of your activities on a daily basis, Beacon Academy will supply you with anything you need to succeed. However it is on you to make use of them.”

Ruby held the items in her hands, not really knowing what to do with them, and then she heard Glynda speak again. “Do you have any questions or concerns?”

Ruby remembered that she hasn’t seen her sister yet, “Have you seen my older sister, Yang?”

The professor rolled her eyes and sighed, “So you’re her sister? Yang a good kid but I don't recommend following in her footsteps.” she paused, “Since she’s a part of the student council, she's probably at the school planning events. Hopefully she’s not doing anything....sketchy.”

Ruby then asked another question, “Is there anyone else here?”

“Yes, but a lot of students keep to themselves the first few weeks.” Glynda answered.

“Oh right, I have one more question; you’re a teacher, right?” Ruby asked, “Why are you working the front desk of the dorms?”

The professor sighed.

“Yes I am a teacher and I just happen to be in charge of this dorm. The principal asked someone to do it, and I just happened to have a lot of free time on my hands”, she explained, "You don't need to know the details though"

“Well then Miss Rose, if you don’t have any more questions I suggest you get some sleep. You look exhausted”, she said as she began to turn and walk away, "Classes start in the morning, I doubt you want to fall asleep in class on your first day."

She was right, she was tired from all the traveling. 

She then quickly unpacked her sheets and blankets and made her bed. The non-essentials can wait, right now she wanted nothing more than to rest. However this was different than usual, her eyes felt very heavy and she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Ruby woke up. But this wasn’t the room she fell asleep in, the room was blue, black, and dimly lit. She looked around the environment frantically, trying to find anything to tell her where she is. In front of her was a desk, where a man with a balding head and a long pointy nose sat. Ruby has never seen anyone like this before, she gasped and realized she was sitting in a chair her own. The room looked like the inside of a clock tower, open gears and mechanisms were over her head and all around. She then noticed someone was standing next to him, was a tall, well dressed, slender but fit young man.

“Hello and Welcome to The Velvet Room”, the mysterious man said, “My name is Igor, I am pleased to meet your acquaintance. This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who are bound by a contract may enter.”

_Contract?_ Ruby thought

“It seems that you have an interesting journey ahead of you. If you are here then that means it is my duty to assist you.” Igor paused, “Allow me to introduce my assistant. This is Julius.”

Julius then spoke up, “I’m pleased to meet you, I am also here to assist you on your journey. Please use our services to the fullest extent possible.”

Igor then said “It seems you have been given an extraordinary ability, one that has yet to be unleashed. My duties will become more clear once those powers have become realized. Until we meet again, I bid you farewell”

Ruby heard a feint ringing sound, and the room slowly turned dark.


	2. First Day of School

Monday, 4/8

Ruby awoke to the sound of knocking at her door. She groggily got up to answer it, as she opened it, to her surprise it was her older sister Yang.

“Good morning Ruby!!” Yang said with enthusiasm, “I’m sorry I couldn’t see you yesterday, I forgot you were coming that day.”. She paused and looked around Ruby’s room, she then walked in, “You’re still not done unpacking? You must’ve been exhausted yesterday. Then again it’s been a while since I traveled from Patch to Vale by train.”

“I missed you Yang...” Ruby said as she hugged her older sister. It’s been years since she left for Beacon herself.

Yang reciprocated and hugged her back, “I missed you to little sis”

The hug was short lived as Yang spoke up and said “Hurry up and get dressed, I’ll show you the way to school and show you around campus.”

A few minutes passed and Ruby was in her school uniform, a red plaid skirt, brown jacket, white shirt and a red ribbon tied around the collar of her shirt. Ruby decided to wear a pair of black leggings with it as well. Yang waited for her in the lobby, “Wow, you look nice! I already know everyone will have their eyes on you.”

The thought of people having their attention on her made Ruby blush. She thought she wasn’t the best looking person out there, but everyone thought she was cute and adorable. She didn’t know what it was, maybe she just didn’t want to be the center of attention. Yang gestured towards the door, as Ruby followed behind.

Vale already seemed like a bustling city on a weekend, it seems even busier during an actual work or school day. One could easily get lost if they didn’t know where they were going, thankfully Ruby had Yang to show her the way. She followed her to the train station, they both used their student passes to get through the gates and to the platform. The train wasn’t there yet so Ruby was browsing her phone to see if any of her old friends messaged her, maybe she should also let her dad know she made it there safely. Maybe it was too late for that, maybe he knew already. Then she saw the mysterious app on her phone again, the last time she touched it, she got a splitting headache and had a strange dream. Ruby decided to delete it for now.

“So Ruby”, Yang began, “You remember how to get here from the dorms?”

Ruby nodded and said “Yes”

“Okay, that’s good.” Yang briefly paused, “I won’t be able to walk with you every day, I just wanted to be sure”

So I'll be on my own after today? Ruby thought.

Yang must’ve been very busy if she doesn’t have time to walk her little sister to school every day. Or maybe she wants Ruby to be less dependent on her. But Ruby trusted her, there’s a reason for everything someone does.

The loud noise approaching indicated the train was close by, Ruby, Yang, and other commuters got close to the edge. As the train sped by, she noticed how packed the train cars were. As the doors opened many people got off and many got on, both tried to find a seat, unfortunately they couldn’t get one. So they grabbed the railing on the walls and ceiling of the train. Ruby kept her book bag close to her, as did Yang. “No wonder dad hated living in the city, it’s so congested here, you can hardly move” Ruby said to Yang

“True, true, but it’s more things to do out in the city, it's more exciting if you ask me”, Yang replied.

Suddenly they saw a tall blonde male wearing a school uniform running towards the doors as the automated voice inside the train said “Doors closing”.

“Wait!” The student said “Don’t leave!!”

He stuck his arm between the doors just in time for them to open up again. He hurried on, his face covered with sweat, “Just in time”

Yang rolled her eyes while giggling, she knew who he was, “That guy, he’s a second year and still hasn’t gotten used to taking the train to school”, Yang whispered to Ruby.

The train then took off, and after about 5 stops later the train emerged from an underground tunnel and they were greeted by a breathtaking view of the sea, they were on the northwestern edge of Vale. The station for the school was next, so they both went towards the doors with the other students. As they exited they made their way to the campus. For a high school, it looked more like a college campus than anything.

As they entered the courtyard, Ruby stood in awe as this is the first time she’s seen it in person.

“Yep, the brochures don’t do this place justice.” Yang said.

Up close it looked like a cathedral of some kind, combined with a medieval castle. However, thanks to recent renovations, blends in with Vale’s modern aesthetic. Yang spoke up again, “Come on, let me show you around”

The interior looked like the inside of an old church with its stone floor, arches held up the ceiling with 3 different sets of stairs going in different directions, there were also hallways on the top and bottom of the left and right staircases. They lead to hallways to the lockers, classrooms, and other rooms and clubs. The hallways looked pretty basic in comparison, that must be a part of the modern aesthetic. 

Yang proceeded to show her around as many places as she could before the first bell rung. She made sure to show Ruby where the sports teams practiced, in case she wanted to join any of the teams.

“Okay, aaaaand that's all the places I wanted to show you, now we have to faculty office to meet your homeroom teacher”, Yang said, her phone then buzzed, it must’ve been urgent judging by her expression. She then sighed and said “I'm sorry Ruby, I have to take care of something. The faculty office is upstairs and to the right."

Ruby then had a disappointed look on her face, to which Yang hugged her immediately. As if to say that she's there for her if she needs her. "You're going to be fine Ruby, I believe in you" Yang said as she let go and turned to leave, “I’ll see you later! I’ll be sure to meet up with you after school! And your homeroom teacher is Professor Oobleck

Ruby followed the directions she gave her, as she walked up the stairway, she noticed a white haired girl who was talking angrily into her phone. This stairway was pretty isolated, not many people were passing through, that’s probably why she was here. 

"...Father, you've strung me along my entire life, how am I supposed to grow up if you're making all the decisi--" The white haired girl must've been cut off, then she angrily responded, "My safety!? Now you care!?" 

Ruby must’ve looked at her too long because the girl gave her a very annoyed look when she noticed her.

"What are you doing? Are you eavesdropping?" she asked

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!" Ruby said as she hurried along to avoid a possible conflict.

The faculty office was right where Yang said it’d be, and Ruby opened the door. She saw a few middle aged men and women either checking their study plans or talking amongst themselves. She looked for Professor Oobleck's desk, Yang could've given her a description of what he looked like. Then she saw a desk that had the name 'Prof. Bartholomew Oobleck', his desk had a very tall thermos on it. Sitting at the desk was a slender middle-aged man with green slick back hair and glasses. He wore a white shirt and yellow tie and brown khaki pants with dress shoes. 

Ruby walked over to him and began to introduce herself, “Good morning Professor Oobleck, my name is Ruby Ro—“

“Ah yes, Miss Rose! Good morning, you arrived earlier than expected, that’s great!”, the teacher spoke quickly and excited, like he had 3 cups of coffee already, “You’ll come into the classroom with me after the first bell rings. Then you introduce yourself to the class, make sure you make a good first impression!”

The first bell rung and the hallways emptied as the students went to their first class of the day. Ruby almost couldn’t keep up with Oobleck who sped to the classroom.

“Miss Rose! Please hurry, time is of the essence,” Oobleck said in his quick voice, though he was probably just teasing her, he then opened the door and said “Quiet children! We have a new student today, she comes all the way from Patch, please introduce yourself”

All eyes were on Ruby, she wasn’t sure what to say, all these unfamiliar faces staring at her and already making assumptions about her before she said a word. She took a breath and said, “Ehh..My name is Ruby Rose, I just got out of Signal Academy, and it was my dream to attend Beacon Academy”

She heard whispers “I heard she’s Yang’s little sister.....you think she’s....”

“...pretty adorable......I saw her......”

“Is there anything else you wish to share with the class Miss Rose?” Oobleck asked

“While I was as Signal, I was one of the best track runners there”, Ruby couldn’t think of anything else interesting about her that wasn’t too personal.

“Very interesting, perhaps when clubs open up, you might want to join our sports teams.” Oobleck suggested, “Now there is one open seat, please sit in the seat behind Miss Schnee please.”

Ruby recognized her, she was the white haired girl she saw in the hallway previously. She didn’t pay Ruby any mind though. “Okay children, I’ll be teaching world history, Take this course seriously, remember the old saying; if you do not learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it”

Oobleck continued his lecture, as Ruby looked around her class. Everyone seemed either attentive or bored out of their mind, and she was too. It wasn't because of a lack of interest, but she was legitimately tired, and she began to close her eyes. She was jolted awake when Oobleck said her name, “Ruby! Dosing off I see, there’s quite a few people doing that too. Maybe if you get more involved you’ll pay more attention, what is the significance of the Vytal Islands?" 

Ruby was caught off guard by the question, it seemed so random yet she felt like she should know this.

“Quickly Miss Rose, surely they taught you this at Signal.”

“Vytal is where a peace treaty was signed to end the Great War...or something like that” Ruby answered

“Good job, maybe you are paying attention”, Oobleck said, "Now, as I was saying..."

Ruby gave a sigh of relief as she heard her classmates whispering about her, most of it was positive.

"She's smarter than she looks...maybe she'd be a great study partner...." she heard someone whisper. 

* * *

The last bell rung signifying the day was over, thankfully this was more of a review day and the real material gets started tomorrow. As Ruby walked down the hall browsing her phone, and she saw the mysterious app yet again. 

It's back? Didn't I delete this? Why did it come back? Ruby thought to herself as her finger hovered over the app icon, but hesitated 

She didn’t want to test anything here, but she had to find out what it was sooner or later. Making her way down the stairs she searched for Yang, she said she’d walk her home today.

“Hey Ruby!” Yang said enthusiastically, “So how was your first day?”

“It was okay, we certainly have some interesting teachers” Ruby responded

"Yep, Oobleck is definitely a...character" Yang said, "Did you make any friends yet?"

"Eh, not really", Ruby said with a sad look on her face

"Oh...well don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll find some friends soon!" Yang said to hopefully cheer up Ruby, "Come on, I want to show you around Vale, there's more to do than just studying"

"That sounds great!" Ruby said

Ruby and Yang caught up while walking through the campus courtyard. Around them were some colorful characters. First among them was a dark brown haired girl wearing a black beret and sunglasses people watching, a tall redhead wearing a tracksuit was leading a group of athletes on a jog, a dark haired girl was sitting on a nearby bench reading a book, and last but not least was a girl about Ruby’s age with long brown hair taking pictures of campus.

Campus was quite lively.

* * *

First was the Entertainment District, Fandango, it had its fair share of arcades, movie theaters, comic and manga shops all around. “So what do you think so far? Looks pretty fun right?”, Yang asked

“Yeah, it sure does!” Ruby replied, "I can't wait to add more to my comic book collection!"

“That’s the spirit Ruby!” Yang said, but her smile disappeared when she checked her phone, “Oh man, we don’t have too much time before we have to go back to the dorms...”

“Why is that?” Ruby asked

“The school is concerned about our safety because of the increase of crimes in Vale. So we have to be back before it gets dark”, Yang said annoyed, “That means getting yelled at by Professor Goodwitch, and she doesn’t go easy on you...”

“Well we can check out one more place on the way, come on Ruby.” 

* * *

Yang took her to Feldgrau, the Shopping District of Vale. It had a café looking for a part timer, bookstore, and a medium sized mall. “This is where my friend goes to study, find a new book, or just for a quiet place. I’m sure you’d like a place like this” Yang explained to Ruby

“Who’s you’re friend?” Ruby asked

“Oh, right, her name is Blake. She’s quiet and reserved, but she’s great”, Yang said

“She doesn’t really sound like someone you’d be friends with” Ruby said

“Well we’ve known each other since our first year at Beacon, we had to work together on a few school projects, she seemed lonely so I stuck with her. Eventually we just started hanging out regularly”, said Yang as she pulled out her phone “Ah damn it, we’re out of time! Let’s head back Ruby”

They hurried back to the dormitory.

* * *

It was sunset when they got back to the dorms, they seemingly made it back in time. As Yang and Ruby entered they heard an “Ahem”

Great, they’re about to be victims of Professor Goodwitch’s wrath.

"Welcome back", Glynda said calmly, she was reading a book while sitting at the desk, "How was your first day of school?"

Both girls let out a huge sigh of relief, they didn't want to get in trouble on the first day. Especially Ruby, she at least wanted to have a good reputation. They both changed their expressions to friendly smiles, then Yang said, "It was good Professor, I was just showing my little sis around town, nothing shady!"

As they walked passed her, Glynda said "That's good Miss Xiao Long", then took a sip of her tea, then slammed the cup down, "However, next time please be back at the dorms a little earlier"

This caused the sisters to freeze in place, so sunset was too late.

“We’re sorry, Professor”, Ruby said

“No, you don’t have to apologize”, the professor said “Just stay safe”

“Well I think that’s enough for tonight, I’m heading to my room” Yang said as they went up the stairs. Ruby thought the same thing too, plus she still needed to unpack. "Okay, see you tomorrow Ruby." 

Ruby and Yang then went their separate ways, "Good night big sis" Ruby said as she walked down the hallway.

After she was done unpacking everything she lied on her bed facing the ceiling.

_My first day of school is now over._

_An entire year of this...?_

_It’s so weird..._

_Yang helps but....I don’t know anyone...I feel alone....welcome to Beacon I guess...._

_Mom.....what should I do?_

Ruby’s thoughts just kept going like this while she tried to fall asleep. Yang won’t be there to help her tomorrow morning, she’ll be on her own. What will she do when Yang graduates? If she doesn’t have anyone then she’ll truly be alone...the thought scared her.

_Was it a mistake coming here? Should I have just stayed home?_

Ruby rolled out of bed to find her favorite book, a book containing compilations of fairy tales. Yang would read her these stories when she was younger, even when she got older they always helped her calm down. Ruby didn’t know why they held a special place in her heart, but it made her feel better and aspire to do great things in life. Her favorite was Little Red Riding Hood, for some reason it clicked with her. It was the most mysterious to her, it’s just a simple story about a little girl going on a trip to her grandma’s house. Maybe she felt like she could relate to the protagonist the most of all the characters. They were both young people who don't know of the journey ahead. 

Ruby read some stories and felt tired, the thoughts that kept her up left her mind. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes some of these characters are exactly who you think they are and they'll come into play soon


	3. Awakening Part 1

Tuesday, 4/9

Morning came and Ruby quickly got dressed, she heard her phone vibrate, it was Yang

“Hey Ruby! You didn’t oversleep did you? See you at school”

Ruby chuckled a bit as she grabbed her bag to go to the train station.

While on the train platform she saw a familiar face, it was that guy who almost missed the train yesterday. Ruby checked the time, the train should have been here by now, either it was late or delayed.

“Oh no! Did I miss it again!?” Jaune said frantically, “Damn it, Professor Marina isn’t gonna let this one slide!”

Ruby spoke up to try and calm him down, “It’s okay, the train hasn’t come yet”

Jaune turned to her and felt a sense of relief, “Oh thank god...I really underestimate how long it takes to get here.”

“It’s okay, you just made a mistake” said Ruby

“You’re right, you’re right, sorry....I must look really lame right now” Jaune said, “Oh, by the way my name is Jaune. Jaune Arc”

“Oh uh...my name is Ruby Rose” Ruby said with some excitement, “So what year are you? I’m a first year”

“I’m a second year, but I transferred from another school the middle of last year” Jaune explained, “I still don’t really know anybody, yet. I’ve had a little trouble fitting in”

Ruby could relate to that.

“Well I have a similar problem...maybe we could go to school together?” Ruby suggested

_What am I thinking? I don’t want to sound desperate!_

“Actually that’s not a bad idea!” Said Jaune

“Train is approaching” the announcement said

Ruby and Jaune talked about various things on the way to school. She told him what she told her homeroom class yesterday. Jaune told Ruby about himself, how he feels he has to go to Beacon to be in the same league as his grandfather and father. “I have a legacy to live up to, my grandfather served in the military and received a Medal of Honor, my dad went to an Ivy League school and got a master’s in Law. If that weren't enough he was a star baseball player in both high school and college. I need to find something I can do that’s special” Jaune told Ruby as they were walking to the school entrance, he then continued, “they both attended Beacon and graduated with high honors. I need to live up to that.”

He set his bar pretty high, Ruby thought.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Ruby said, "What do you want to do after you graduate?"

"That part....I haven't thought of yet...", Jaune said "but I know coming here will help me find that answer"

He didn't sound that confident.

It was lunchtime, Ruby didn’t have any time to pick anything up from a nearby store, so she had to wait in line in the cafeteria. There were tables for students to socialize, but Ruby didn’t know anyone so she couldn’t just sit at a random table. There was also the option to eat in the classroom, teachers didn’t mind as long as students didn’t leave a mess. Besides she could eat in there without feeling awkward. Ruby overheard some conversations, she decided to listen in on some of them, maybe they’ll talk about something that interests her.

“Did you guys hear? There’s a member of the Schnee family going to this school”, a student said

“There’s no way she’s really a Schnee, why would she come all the way from Atlas to go to school here?” A gaudy student asked

“You think they accepted her to get donations from the Schnee Diamond and Mining Company?” The other student asked

_Schnee? Don’t I sit next to her in class?_ Ruby thought to herself

She got her food and went back to her homeroom, only to see the Schnee everyone spoke of eating lunch there too. She too had to get food from the cafeteria, she ate slowly with a sad look on her face. There weren’t too many students in the room, it was nice and quiet. Ruby then approached her seat, which was behind the white haired girl.

_Should I try talking to her? What if she remembers me from yesterday?_

“Um...hi...” Ruby said under her breath, she thought it would fall on deaf ears, but to her surprise it made the girl turn her head and look at her. She didn’t say a word, just a bit of a cold stare.

“Hello”, she said rather passively and she went back to browsing her phone. She looked like she either didn’t want to be bothered or wasn’t willing to say anything besides ‘hello’.

Ruby decided not to push any further, but she kind of felt bad for her. If she was truly a member of the Schnee family, then everyone would assume the worst. Their company has been under fire recently for exploiting its employees, some getting injured due to the company cutting corners. Anyone could easily assume the family is like the one who was in charge. However there is the possibility that not all Schnees were the same. Why would she come all the way out here for school? She could’ve easily stayed in Atlas and went to the academy.

This wasn’t really Ruby’s problem though, she just finished her meal and took the tray back to the cafeteria. On the way there she saw Jaune, surrounded by four guys, with the tallest one holding him against a locker.

“Hey Jauney boy, how’s it going?” The tallest one said to him

“Cardin, I need to get to class!" Jaune pleaded, but to no avail.

"Hey now, we aren't done yet!" Cardin said as he tried to hold Jaune back, "Remember you still owe me for keeping that little secret you have"

Jaune's eyes widened, gritted his teeth, and reluctantly stopped resisting. He then sighed and said, "What do you want?"

Ruby was getting irritated at the sight, but the gang didn't notice her yet. She started to walk towards them until she heard a voice coming from her direction.

"That's enough Cardin!" 

Ruby, Cardin, his friends, and Jaune looked towards where the voice came from. It was a tall redhead, she had green eyes, and had an angry look on her face. 

"Well it's little miss goodie two-shoes, Pyrrha Nikos", Cardin said mockingly like a child, "What do you want?"  
"What are you doing to him?" Pyrrha asked

"Ah come on Pyrrha, we're just hanging out" Cardin said with a fake smile, "Just boys being boys"

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha looked at the scene and kept her angry look, "It looks like you're picking on him"

She paused, "I can't stand people like you, bullying those weaker than you, that shows how pathetic you really are."

"Oh really?" Cardin said as he dropped Jaune, "You wanna go bitch!?"

Cardin walked up to the tall redhead. While she was tall, Cardin had at least 4 inches over her. However, she wasn't fazed by him at all, this only made him angrier. The tension was broken by the sound of the first bell. To which his group pleaded they should get out of there, Cardin turned and walked away. Pyrrha's angry gaze followed Cardin, she wasn't intimidated at all, in fact Cardin might have been scared of her. Ruby stood in awe, she handled the situation perfectly, Yang would have thrown a punch. Once the bullies were clear she went over to Jaune to help him up, Ruby also ran over to make sure he was okay.

"What was all that about?" Ruby asked

"That was Cardin Winchester, he's been picking on me since I transferred here a year ago" Jaune explained

"Why do you let him treat you like that?", Pyrrha asked 

"Y-you wouldn't understand..." Jaune said as he turned to leave

"Jaune", Pyrrha said, but it Jaune was too far away, or maybe he ignored her.

Ruby looked at Pyrrha and saw how sad she looked sad. 

"Hey... Pyrrha", Ruby said to the tall redhead, "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh...yes, I'm sorry for worrying you", Pyrrha's expression changed to a warm smile, then it went back to sad "It's just that he keeps pushing me away"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked

"I've known him since last year, I tried helping him, but he keeps insisting he can do everything on his own", Pyrrha said, then sighed, "Oh I'm sorry, what's your name? I don't think we've met"

Ruby's face lit up, "My name is Ruby Rose, I'm a first year!"

"Nice to meet you", Pyrrha said, "Well, I have to get to class, maybe I'll see you later" 

The tall redhead turned to leave, Ruby hurried along as well. However, Ruby couldn't stop thinking about Jaune's situation, it seemed like he let himself get bullied. Why would he keep pushing people away who just wanted to help? Maybe she'd ask on the way back to the dorms. 

###### 

The school day came and went, day 2 was in the books. Ruby walked to the school entrance, she looked at her phone to see if anyone texted her and to check out her social media. Then she noticed the strange app again, why did it come back? Her phone then vibrated, it was Yang, she told her to head back to the dorm as soon as possible, Ruby then sighed and made her way to the front of the school. 

###### 

Meanwhile on campus, Pyrrha was on her way to the track, the season hasn't started yet but she was a dedicated athlete. She changed her clothes, now wearing a red tracksuit, she was on her way outside when she spotted someone, they looked like she was waiting for her. It was a white haired girl with blue eyes, Pyrrha recognized her and spoke.

"Hey Weiss, what's up?" she asked 

"Hey Pyrrha, I'm...sorry to bother you but, can I talk to you for a sec?" Weiss said

"Sure", Pyrrha said as she gestured to Weiss to follow her the field.

Pyrrha met Weiss a few weeks ago. Weiss didn't speak to anyone, no one knew the reason until Pyrrha took the initiative when she noticed she seemed to be pretty lonely. She was reluctant at first, but she opened up to her. She revealed that she was a member of the famous (or infamous) Schnee family, the same one that runs the Schnee Diamond and Mining Company. Since then, Pyrrha was really the only one Weiss considered a friend. Pyrrha on the other hand, while humble, was friends with almost everyone mostly because she was one of the school's best athletes. She grew up in Argus and went to Sanctum Academy, much like how Weiss went to school in Atlas at first before going to Beacon. The difference between them was that everyone loved Pyrrha and everyone assumed the worst of Weiss, however what they both wanted were true friends who loved them for who they were. 

"So you hate rumors already?" Pyrrha said in response to Weiss venting her frustrations, "People are making assumptions before they even meet you."

"It's so annoying! I came here to have a fresh start and avoid this!", Weiss complained 

Pyrrha began stretching, "Have you tried talking to that new girl? She seems pretty nice."

"Who that first year? She sits behind me in homeroom", Weiss said, "I think she tried to talk to me, but I blew her off."

Pyrrha chuckled, "That definitely sounds like you, Ice Queen"

Weiss got flustered, "Hey! Don't call me that!"

The redhead laughed, "Weiss, you don't like how everyone assumes the worst about you? Well, don't you think you shouldn't do the same to everyone else?"

Weiss looked down, "I don't know who to trust..."

"You trust me, don't you?" 

"Yes, but..." Weiss turned around, then sighed, "...Actually you're right"

Pyrrha then finished her stretching, before she began her run Weiss spoke up, "Hey could you walk home with me tonight?"

"Weiss there's a curfew in place at the dorms, I'll be heading back right after", Pyrrha said, "Don't you live in the dorms?"

"No, I live with my sister in a apartment on the North End" Weiss answered. That wasn't too far from the dorms

"I see" Pyrrha sighed, "Okay, I'll make this quick"

Ruby made it back to the dorms just in time, she immediately heard a voice say "Welcome back Miss Rose"

It was Glynda however this time the lobby wasn't empty, there was a black haired girl reading a book sitting on the couch.

"By the way, I forgot to mention this but some nights I won't be here. I expect you all to behave yourselves" Glynda said as Ruby walked passed her desk.

Ruby looked towards the raven haired girl, she looked like she was in deep thought. She tried to read the title of the book, maybe she made this too obvious because the dark haired girl's yellow eyes suddenly shifted to her direction. "Can I help you?" she said

"Oh! Sorry, I was just interested in the book you're reading, I like to read as well." Ruby said

"Is that so? That's nice", she said as she focused back on her book, Ruby was a bit disappointed and turned to leave. Then she heard a voice, "You're Yang's little sister, right?"

Ruby was surprised, "Yeah...how did you know?"

The dark haired girl responded, "I'm Yang's friend, Blake. She told me her sister was coming to school, I saw you two yesterday"

She continued, "If you want, you can borrow some of my books anytime. It helps to keep yourself occupied and you might learn something."

That's really nice of her Ruby thought, how exciting. 

"That's why I love it! It always makes me feel better." Ruby said in agreement, "I love fairy tales the most"

Blake paused and looked at her with a smug smile on her face, "I'm not really a fan of those stories"

"Why not?"

"Those stories distort the reality of life, everyone has a happy ending, even when everything looks hopeless"

"That's why I like them"

This response surprised Blake, then Ruby continued, "There is always a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how hopeless things seem"

Blake was a bit amazed, she hadn't really thought of it like that before. She smiled, closed her book and got up. "That's an interesting way to look at it, but the world just isn't as kind or forgiving" she said as she walked up the stairs. 

"Well, that doesn't mean we can't do anything about it", Ruby said to her as she followed behind

"I truly respect your optimism, Ruby" Blake said as she went down the opposite hallway, Ruby decided to go to her room too. She decided to study before bed, Oobleck warned of pop quizes.

###### 

Wednesday, 4/10

The next morning, Ruby was on her way to the train station when she realized the clouds were dark. _Was it supposed to rain today?_

She hurried along, the sound of thunder followed behind her. 

Ruby met up with Jaune again, and they made their way to school. However, the rain picked up and turned in to torrential rain. As the train pulled in, they both came to the grim realization that they both didn't have an umbrella. Beacon wasn't too far from the station, and class won't begin for another 30 minutes.

"Okay Ruby, when the rain starts slowing down, we make a break for it", Jaune suggested

Ruby pulled out her phone to check the time, they still had a little more time. However her phone had that strange app flashing yet again. The frequency of the rain slowed down, to which Jaune said "Let's go!"

Both of them used their book bags as makeshift umbrellas. As they approached the school, the sky got darker, the rain slowed down, actually it completely stopped. Ruby looked around, the sky was pitch black, everyone around her disappeared, except Jaune.

"Wait...what?" Jaune said, "Did it stop raining?"

He looked around frantically, "W-where did everybody go!? Where are we!?"

Ruby remembered, _This must've been the work of that mysterious app._

She remembered it appeared the first day she came to Vale a few days ago, everyone disappeared, the sky turned pitch black, the atmosphere was oppressive and uninviting. Ruby looked towards the school and instead of the tall cathedral-like structure, she saw a dark towered castle instead. This was odd because everything else looked normal.

"That castle..." Ruby muttered out

"When did the school turn into a castle?" Jaune asked. 

They slowly approached the ominous structure hoping to find answers. What other choice did they have?

Ruby heard her own heartbeat and got another headache, she heard a voice in her head but she couldn’t understand it.

“Ruby are you okay?” Said Jaune in a worried voice,

Ruby responded “I’m fine, Let’s check in here to see if there’s anyone else here”

They opened the door to be greeted by an empty room but it was the same size as the lobby to their school. It lacked many of its features, but the size and shape were the same.

“Hello!! Is anyone in here!!?” Jaune shouted

Ruby looked around for any signs of life, but she heard something slithering around. Something wasn’t right. Jaune then walked to where Ruby heard it. She was a bit more hesitant but followed. The hallway was now darkened, visibility was poor.

“I wonder if we can use our phones as flashlights?” Asked Jaune

Ruby pulled out her phone, but she couldn’t leave the app. She tried to pull up the menu but to no avail.

“Is it working for you?” Jaune asked

Ruby simply shook her head as a way to say no. Jaune pulled out his phone, it would turn on but he had no service, what a surprise. Thankfully his flashlight still worked.

They kept walking through, and it didn’t look any better. In fact the decor was more deteriorated the further they went in. They went upstairs, then went down the nearest hallway, they traveled down a seemingly endless path. Ruby began to wonder if this was longer than the actual hallway in the real world. It looked like gigantic vessels were pulsating through the ceiling. There also appeared to be dark purple rocks growing on the walls accompanied by bright purple crystal shards jutting out of them. This didn't seem right, along with the floors changing. Ruby didn't feel safe anymore. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ruby asked

“What other choice do we have?.....actually you might be right...” Jaune admitted, “Well then let’s turn around an—“

Ruby looked at him puzzled as she turned around, and she was shocked too. There was a wall behind her even though they came from that way.

“W—What’s going on here!!?” Jaune asked, “Is this some kind of horror house or something!?”

Ruby then noticed another slithering sound coming from behind Jaune. She saw a mass of black slime with red eyes and claw-like hands, it made a animal like sound when Jaune shone light on it. Then it started charging towards them, very quickly, making a primal roar.

“AAHHHHH!!” Jaune shouted

They ran to the nearest door, and it lead them to a dimly lit room, Ruby quickly closed the door. The black creature banged against the door rapidly.

“What the hell is that thing!?” Jaune panicked, “We need to find a way out fast!!”

Ruby head started to throb again but this time she heard a voice more clearly.

I am thou.........

What was this voice?

“Ruby what’s wrong!? Are you okay?” Jaune asked when he noticed Ruby wincing in pain.

Suddenly a mask with a blank expression appeared on the wall of the room, and what emerged was another dark creature. It was another mass of black slime.

_Are you going to die here? Before your dream becomes a reality? Are you afraid?_

“I am afraid...” Ruby said

_Do you wish to overcome this fear?_

“Yes!”

_Then allow us to form a contract..._

An intense ringing went on in Ruby’s head, her heart began to race. She felt enormous pain causing her to scream.

_I am thou, thou art I, if you wish to protect everything dear to you no matter the cost then call my name!!_

“Per...so...na” Ruby uttered out, then she was enveloped in a blue light causing a blast of wind. From the smoke came a red hooded figure that looked to be female and wielding a large scythe, it had a rose covering her left eye and its left eye was glowing silver. She wore black and red thigh high leather boots, short red and black dress accompanied by a black laced top. 

“Red Riding Hood!!” Ruby said its name aloud

The figure spoke, “I am Red Riding Hood, the other you that exists within, if you wish to use my power, I’ll lend you my strength!”

“Please, lend me your strength”, Ruby said

“Very well”, Red Riding Hood responded

“What is that!?” Jaune asked

Three more dark creatures poured into the room. 

"I got this!" Ruby said confidently.

The dark creatures lunged at her, Red Riding Hood grabbed one and slammed it to the ground. Then she swung her massive scythe to cut another one in half, both evaporated into black smoke. The last one transformed into a striped sphere with a giant mouth and large flailing tongue. One more entered the room and transformed too. Red Riding Hood simply conjured up a gust of wind to shred both of them.

"Woah...that's amazing!!" Jaune said "What did you call it again?"

Ruby collapsed to her knees panting, "That....was my....Persona...".


	4. A New World?

There were no trace left of the dark creatures, the room was all clear.

“W-what was that!?” Jaune asked frantically, “Red Riding Hood? L-like the fairy tale?”

Ruby fell to her knees and was gasping for air, awakening the Persona must’ve been very draining for her. After a few seconds Ruby managed to pick herself up to one knee, but she still didn't have the strength to stand. This power was a surprise, it awakened to her in this world and when she was scared. It also seems to only work here in this strange world as well. Here she was expecting to be an ordinary high school girl, but now she knew she was anything but that. However, Ruby was still unsure as to why she was chosen to have this power, but now wasn't the time to think about that.

"I...I'm not sure...", Ruby panted out "But it lets me fight those monsters..."

"I noticed, but what is a persona?" Jaune asked, "'The other you that exists within'? That doesn't make sense..." 

“Let's think about that later, we have to get out of here”, Ruby said

“Yeah I know, but how do we get out of here?” Jaune said as he walked over to help her up, “This place seems to change whenever it feels like it.”

He pointed to the door they came through, then continued, “The door we came through is gone!”

Ruby raised her head to look around, “Wait, we’re inside the school, right?”

“I...think...” Jaune said like what Ruby said was unhelpful. Ruby was finally able stand

“Even if the layout changes, the direction we came from should be the same”, Ruby explained.

“What are you getting at?” Jaune asked

“I’m borrowing a tactic from my big sis” Ruby said as she walked to where the door once was, “Persona!!”

A glowing Tarot card representing The Fool appeared before Ruby, she reached towards it and grasped it with her hand. When she did Red Riding Hood returned and used its giant scythe to Cleave the wall. The destroyed wall revealed the hallway they were once in. It looks like all they have to do now is retrace their steps and they'll be back to where they started.

“Whoa! That’s cool!” Jaune exclaimed, “But that’s so weird though, is this some kind of horror house maze?”

“I don’t know, but let’s focus on getting out of here first” Ruby responded

They made their way back to the entrance with Ruby’s persona destroying the walls that previously impeded their path. Suddenly, more dark creatures emerged from the wall.

"Damn! It looks like they can show up wherever they want!" Exclaimed Jaune

Ruby summoned her Persona again, and immediately attacked with its scythe. However these monsters didn't seem to be phased by the attack, in fact it did very little damage. 

"Uh...Ruby...it doesn't look like attacking head first it going to defeat them..." Jaune said as he ran for cover.

"I wonder if my persona has any other abilities..." said Ruby as she looked to her Persona, it looked back at her and nodded its head to reassure her that it had additional abilities. Red Riding Hood began to twirl its scythe like a propeller or fan, creating a gust of wind to blow the monsters away. Some were shredded to dust because of this. Nothing stood in their way, they rushed down to the main lobby

“Looks like we’re in the clear Ruby!” Jaune said excitedly, they opened the door to reveal the courtyard. It was still black as night, however there was a source of illumination; the moon.

"What's going on here? Why is it nighttime?" Jaune said with a panicked look on his face, "Wasn't it morning when we got here!?"  
"Calm down, I think I know how we got here", Ruby said as she pulled out her phone

“We already tried that remember? There’s no service, no WiFi...what are we gonna do?”, Jaune said losing hope

“Welcome to the Nocturne App, would you like to return to the real world?” A digital voice said

Ruby pressed the green icon, suddenly the moon raced across the sky very unnaturally and like that they appeared back in the courtyard of Beacon, the clouds were still in overcast and the school returned to normal. There was no one around, which was a bit worrying, but this can be attributed to school being in session. 

“Wait, Huh!?” Jaune exclaimed in disbelief, “W-we’re back!?”

Ruby looked at the time, an hour and a half went by, they were late for school. But to them, that was the least of their worries, they had discovered a different “world” or at least an alternate version of their world. They had more questions than answers. There was no explanation for why the school was the only place that transform, who or what gave the app to Ruby, and what were those freaky monsters.

"What are you two doing out of class?" a voice said from the direction of the school.

"Oh! Uh Professor Mulberry! Um....we were...uh...", Jaune was struggling to come up with a reasonable excuse, but he couldn't think of one.

"We missed our stop on the way here!" Ruby said

"Oh! Yeah we weren't sure which stop to get off so we had to take a detour...or....something" Jaune added

"Well even still, you're both way too late. Both of you come with me to the faculty office..."

"That won't be necessary.", said another voice from afar 

They both looked ahead to see an older man with a cane, he had white hair, tinted glasses, a black suit with a green shirt, the suit coat was ordained with lapel pins. He walked with a fancy black cane with a silver handle. "It's only the 3rd day of school, I'm sure one tardy can be overlooked"

"Well if you say so Professor Ozpin" Professor Mulberry said, he then turned to the two students "Okay, you got off lucky today you two. Now hurry up, you're late enough as it is.

Ruby and Jaune hurried to the front door. As Ruby passed Ozpin he spoke, "You're Ruby Rose, aren't you?"

Ruby stopped, "Huh?"

_How does he know who I am?_

"You're Summer's daughter?" Ozpin asked

"Oh yes!" Ruby answered, "How did you know?" 

"You look just like her", Ozpin said, "That, and I know your father quite well. They were both great students when they went here, of course they also did their fair share of trouble making..."

Ozpin smiled, "Now, run along. Try not to be late anymore."

Professor Mulberry walked past him into the school, Ozpin looked up to the school and then said to himself, "It seems we have another one..."

He sighed, "This will definitely be an eventful year...."

It was lunchtime, Ruby was walking towards the cafeteria, she was approached by Yang who had a bit of a worried look on her face.

"Hey Ruby", she said to her little sister, "I heard you were late to school, did something happen? Was it because of the rain?"

_Should I tell her about that strange world?_

_Actually......._

_That would probably make her worry more..._

"I just missed the stop, and I had to take a detour to get here" Ruby explained

"I thought you had the route memorized...but I guess that makes sense you're probably not used to the city life yet.", Yang said, "Also I'm sorry, I forgot to give you an umbrella. It probably won't rain anymore today, but it's good to be prepared"

She handed her a small umbrella, "Thanks big sis", Ruby said.

"No problem!", the blonde said, "Okay I gotta go, see you later!"

The third day came to a close, Ruby grabbed her things and made it out to the Ruby made it out to the hallway, suddenly she saw the inside of that strange castle for a half-second. She was shocked to see this, but it was even stranger to see that no one saw it either. "This is...the school...right?", Ruby said out loud. "Ruby!"

She looked behind her to see Jaune.

"Hey, I need to talk to you. Meet me near the track at the back of the school."

Ruby arrived at Beacon's athletic facility, it was mostly empty because most of the sports teams had yet to begin their seasons. She followed the sidewalk to a set of bleachers near the track, just looking at the up to date field got her excited, she couldn't wait for the season to start. She saw Jaune sitting on the bleachers, she approached him.

"So...." Jaune trailed off, "What was that place? That world? And you had that strange power too." 

"It's crazy isn't it?" Ruby asked

"A little too crazy if you ask me.", Jaune added, "You think anyone knows about it?"

"I don't think so", Ruby said, "And if we told anyone else they'd think we're insane"

"Yeah, I'm still trying to come to terms with that myself..." Jaune replied, "Well at least we know we're not going mad...I hope..."

Jaune stood up, "Well I think we should chock this up to a weird experience, there's no point in us going back in there...at least for now."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked

"We should find out more information about that world first, no matter how small", answered Jaune

"Do you really think we'll find anything?", Ruby asked confused, "And why do you want to go back? You can't even fight those monsters we saw there"

"Well there's gotta be a reason why WE were the ones to discover that world", said Jaune with a confident smirk on his face, "I think it's fitting that we uncover the mystery of that world"

Ruby could tell this confidence wasn't too genuine, there must've been an ulterior motive. She raised her eyebrow and narrowed her eyes as a way to silently tell his true intentions. Jaune saw this and looked away.

"Okay, I see it as a way to become popular..." admitted Jaune, "But I do actually want to know why."

Ruby sighed, "You saw that world right? We shouldn't be doing this for fame!"

"Y-yeah..You're right..." Jaune admitted "Anyway, if you do find out anything you can message me!"

They exchanged contact info, He then turned to leave, "Okay, I' got something else to do, I'll see you later".

Ruby decided she should head home for the day too.

She made her way to the train station, the train wasn't there yet so she decided to listen in on other students' conversation.

"Have you heard? My friend in Atlas who keeps telling me about someone walking through the halls of the Academy", a male student said, "It has glowing green eyes, looks like a teenage girl...it sound too bizarre to be real."

"You think it's a ghost or something?" Their friend asked

"That's what everyone at Atlas thinks it is"

A mechanical voice said, "Train is approaching."

As Ruby went back to her room, she couldn't stop thinking about the day's events. She discovered another world with monsters, found a new power, and the school transformed into a castle hell bent on eliminating intruders. The young redhead 

Why would the school transform in the first place? Ruby thought to herself as she looked out her window. 

"Ah, I'm probably worried about nothing..." said Ruby to herself, she sat down in her bed and tried to study. This was probably her worst habit because she was prone to falling asleep, which she did after about a half-hour.

Ruby awoke, but this time she wasn't in her room, she was now in the Velvet Room. She saw the long nosed old man Igor, with his assistant Julius. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. I have summoned you here from your dreams", said Igor "Do not be alarmed, you are still asleep in the real world"

A sparkling Tarot Card representing The Fool descended in front of him, "It seems that you have finally awakened to your power. This is known as a Persona, think of it as an extension of your soul given physical form in that world"

"Ah yes, it also seems you possess the power of the Wild Card as well." Igor continued.

"The Wild Card is like the number zero; empty but infinite possibilities" Julius added.

"In order for your power to grow, you need the strength of others, or those with whom you share a common goal with", Igor explained, "Your 'Social Links' are integral for the Wild Card to reach its maximum potential"

"Its...potential?" Ruby asked.

"Those who you forge bonds with will become your power, should you reach out to them that is", Igor answered, "Now, until we meet again, I bid you farewell."

Ruby's vision blurred as the blue light faded away into darkness.

###### 

Thursday 4/11

Ruby was ready earlier than usual, the magically induced sleep must've done wonders for her. She woke up so early she caught Yang getting ready to leave, this was a surprise to the blonde her eyes widened, "Oh? You're up early".

"I...uh...I guess I am", said Ruby in disbelief.

"Well, since you're up so early, wanna go to school with me and Blake?", Yang offered

"Sure!", said Ruby enthusiastically.

On the way, the sisters talked about Ruby's first week of school, and Ruby was careful not to mention the Nocturne App, her Persona, and how the school might secretly be a castle full of monsters. Who knows how she'd respond to that. However, keeping secrets from her sister just rubbed her the wrong way. At the same time, she's forgetting about it, right? The stop to Beacon was coming up.

The day went by normally with nothing eventful going on. The only thing of note was an announcement for the first semester assembly on Saturday. All that meant was that instead of a lecture from a teacher, the school gets a short or long speech, depending on how he feels that day, from Ozpin and they all go home after that. She decided to go to the library today, for 2 reasons: First she wanted to brush up on all the subjects she struggled with, second she decided to humor Jaune and see if there was any information about that strange world. After a few hours, she made a lot of progress, hopefully her knowledge increased because of this. The sun was beginning to set, if Ruby wanted to find out more about the Nocturne she had to do it now. The biggest problem was that she didn't even know where to look. 

After about an hour and a half, big surprise, she found nothing. Why would there be any books about something so bizarre? Before Ruby had to leave she decided to look it up on the internet, maybe she'll find something there. Of course, there were no reliable results. However, something caught her attention, a news headline that read "Missing Person Found Dead, No Suspect or Cause of Death". This was posted about 1 month ago, it probably didn't garner any attention because of the more relevant stories in the news cycle. Apparently this happens every so often, a person goes missing under mysterious circumstances without any trace for weeks or even months. The police can't sense a pattern because it's random who goes missing.

 _This might not be connected, but it sounds just as strange...._ Ruby thought to herself. She then packed up her things and left the school.

###### 

Ruby entered her room, she noticed she had a new text message, it was from Jaune.

"So did you find out anything?"

Ruby responded, "You could've helped if you were so curious..."

Jaune texted back, "You didn't tell me you were researching"

R: "Fair enough....but I didn't find anything about the Nocturne"

J: "For some reason...I'm not too surprised"

R: "I did find something else strange; apparently people go missing every month or so without a trace"

J: "Oh! I've heard about those! They usually show up dead..."

J: "You think it's connected?"

R: "I don't know, but it might..."

J: "Well at least you found something! I'll see you tomorrow"

The text conversation ended there, Ruby decided to go to bed for the night.

Friday 4/12

The morning rush was rather light today, Ruby was able to grab a seat this time, usually the cars are packed. This'd be a great time to read or study before class, especially if any teachers had a pop quiz ready.

######  Morning 

She was in Glynda's Literature class this time, and Ruby was trying her best to pay attention to the lecture.

"Today we're going to look at short stories, most of them are folk tales that all vary across different cultures. A lot of them are much older than people think...Miss Rose..."

Ruby sat up to hear the question.

"Even though Little Red Riding Hood is said to have originated in France during the 17th Century, how far back can similar stories be found?"

_Oh crap!!_

_Wait a sec...I know this!_

_...This is it!_

"Around the time of the Ancient Greeks", said Ruby confidently

"Ah, impressive Miss Rose." Glynda said, "Even though modern interpretations of tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty & The Beast and many others can all be traced back to Europe, there are similar stories found in ancient cultures as well. In the Greek version, a young woman is given to malevolent wolf spirit as a sacrifice, whereupon she's saved by a man who she marries soon after. Now, open you books to page...."

######  Afternoon

Jaune was at his locker getting his books for the last class of the day, in his peripheral vision he saw the last person he wanted to see: Cardin and his group of friends.  
Great....”, he muttered.

“What do you want Cardin?” Jaune asked annoyed

“Ah, I see you’ve grown a pair!” Cardin said arrogantly, “What’s with the sudden change, Jaune-y boy?”

"....Nothing..." he answered, "Now what the hell do you want?"

"Well you know our little deal right? I really enjoy your help on that summer reading homework", said Cardin with a devilish smile on his face, "I would ask you to do more but a certain bitch keeps getting in the way"

Jaune was getting nervous, "What are you getting at?"

"I see that Pyrrha trains at the track everyday, and me and the boys found a wasps' nest the other day", Cardin said getting closer to Jaune

"Well why're you telling me? I'm not getting involved..." said Jaune defiantly

"You are, and you don't have a choice...well you don't have to if you don't want to be at Beacon anymore"

This was making Jaune angry and sad, he knew what he was going to tell him to do.

"I want you to drop it on the bitch when she's out there", Cardin ordered

His friends were giggling, knowing this would give Pyrrha no reason to protect him anymore. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"I'll see you tomorrow by the track", Cardin said with a smirk on his face as he walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the Month long hiatus, but I'll try to go back to weekly posts (hopefully). This happened for 3 reasons, first I have been working a lot this past month, yes even during the pandemic. Second, I've been playing through Persona 5 Royal and that has taken a lot of time as well. Lastly, I still have to do school work, so again that takes up time. However, I have the next few chapters in rough draft and school is coming to a close , so there will be more chapters out soon. Also, if you couldn't tell already, I added dates to the chapters, just a little detail I decided to add


	5. True Character

###### After School

The last bell rung and Ruby was getting ready to leave, when she ran into Yang. 

”How was your day my adorable little sister?”, the blonde asked with a smile on her face. 

"It was okay, I think I'm getting the hang of high school now." said Ruby, "Are you heading home now?"

"No, not yet, I have a student council meeting to attend. I'm sorry Ruby...", said Yang

"No, it's okay! I'll see you back at the dorms."

"Alright, I'll see you there!"

As Ruby went down the hallway, she saw a tall redhead in her track gear, this interested her so she approached her. She recognized her, it was Pyrrha Nikos. She noticed Ruby approaching her.

"Oh hello Ruby! How was your day?" Pyrrha asked with a gentle smile on her face.

"Ah...hi Pyrrha! It was good." answered Ruby rather enthusiastically, "I-uh noticed you're in a track uniform, has the season started? Oh, I can't wait to show what I can do!!"

"I'm sorry, but the season doesn't start until the end of the month" Pyrrha informed Ruby, then she continued to speak, "But I do train by myself everyday, all I really do is run a few laps and throw around the Javelin and discus. I'd like to have someone to train with me"

_Wait...she's asking me to train with her?_

"You want me to train with you?" Ruby nervously asked

"If you have time, I'd like to train with you. Maybe you can give me preview of your skills", Pyrrha said

 _I can't wait I should go change int-_ thought Ruby until she remembered something...

"Oh no! I didn't bring my exercise clothes!" Ruby said after she realized what she had forgotten.

Pyrrha giggled, "It's okay Ruby, you can train with me tomorrow" "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow!" Ruby said happily. 

###### 

The subway wasn’t as packed at this hour because the adults haven’t gotten off work yet, Ruby was browsing her phone as a short boy about her age with short dark brown hair and green eyes walked past her. The train jerked for a second, causing the boy to almost trip, this caused him to bump into Ruby.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” He said while blushing a little, “I was just trying to get to the doors because my stop was coming up—“

“No it’s okay” Ruby assured him, he was wearing a Beacon Academy uniform, his face looked a little familiar. Has she seen him already? The train slowed as it pulled into the station. Ruby couldn’t ask him if he was in any of her classes, but she’ll have to wait for now. The boy made his way off, he made eye contact with her and said “My name is Oscar by the way, maybe I’ll see you later?”

“Oh, nice to meet you! My name is Ruby”, she said enthusiastically

“You’re that transfer student aren’t y—“

“Doors closing” the mechanical voice interrupted him

“Oh crap!!”

He quickly exited the train.

Ruby giggled a little, as the train was taking off.

Ruby emerged from the station, onto Central Street, looks like rush hour was in full affect. She navigated through the crowd towards, to get to the crosswalk. However, Ruby didn’t just want to go straight home today, she decided to go to the cafe since wasn’t too far from the dorms. Maybe even stop by the bookstore later. She entered the cafe and noticed it wasn’t that packed, the line also wasn’t very long either.When it was Ruby’s turn to order she got a regular coffee but added a large amount of sugar and cream. She even added a few packs of chocolate to it, this made a few people look at her. Some out of curiosity, some out of confusion, but either way, eyes were on her. The redhead overheard people talking about her, "...she's putting so much sugar in her coffee..."

"....maybe we should try it..."

It looks like people were taking notice of Ruby's quirky yet unique nature, she's becoming a little more charming than before.

Ruby made then decided to look at her phone to see if she’d gotten any messages, she had 2 notifications. One from Yang and another from Jaune. The one from Yang was pretty simple and to the point, she was just reminding Ruby not be late for curfew, and reminding her that she can talk to her any time. The other from Jaune was titled “I have a serious problem...."

R: What happened?

J:.....

R: Jaune what happened?

J: I....can't talk about it....

R: You texted me...

J: I know but....never mind

That was weird, why would he text her and then not explain what the problem is? Something isn't right. Ruby returned to the dorms right as the sun was going down.

######  4/13 Saturday 

Early Morning

Ruby was at the station when she was approached by a familiar face, it was Jaune but he looked depressed. she turned to him and asked "Are you okay?"

Jaune looked up and saw Ruby with a worried expression on her face, "Umm...yeah..totally! I uh, overslept is all.."

She could tell he might be hiding something, but for now all she could do is take his word for it.

######  Afternoon 

The day proceeded as normally until the afternoon, all students were required to go to the assembly hall for the principal's opening year speech. The room was pretty big, it was able to contain all of Beacon’s students. Ruby didn’t know who to sit next to, so she grabbed an open seat, she hoped maybe she could talk to whoever decided to sit next to her. To her surprise, a pair of hands covered her eyes suddenly, “Hellooooo~~” it was the voice of Yang.

“How is my adorable little sister doing?” She asked enthusiastically

“I’m feeling pretty good Yang”, Ruby answered

“So your first week of school is about to end, are you enjoying it so far?” The blonde asked

“It’s been pretty interesting to say the least” Ruby responded

“By the way, I know this isn’t the best time to tell you, but I have been really busy preparing for those college entrance exams” Yang said, “I don’t want dad to think I just came here to escape the country life”

“So that’s why I haven’t seen you for the past few days?” Ruby asked

“Well that and student council is pretty demanding as well” Yang said, “Buuuut, after everything gets sorted out I’ll have more time on my hands”

“And what do you plan to do with that free time?” A voice asked from a few feet away, it was Blake.

"Tch! Well obviously nothing bad", responded Yang adding a wink at the end, "Besides I know you like reading _those_ kind of books!” 

The blonde began to laugh, whereupon the dark haired girl delivered a slap to the back of her head.

“OW! What was that for!?”

"Ruby doesn’t have to know about that” Blake said with a stern look.

It took a few seconds for that to register in Ruby’s head, once she realized what Yang meant her face turned bright red. 

“Anyway, I hope this speech isn’t too long, I get he tries to be different every year, but it’s pretty much the same message”, Blake said flatly

The room was starting to fill up, and Ruby was sitting next to a short haired redheaded girl who was shorter than her, she was accompanied by a thin dark haired boy with a pink strip of hair going through the front locks of his hair. Ruby didn’t say a word to them, but she was eavesdropping on their conversation.

“So Ren, what should we do when the speech is over? I want to go to that restaurant that serves all day breakfast. Or maybe you’re feeling Chinese today? *Gasp* or maybe.....”

The girl was quite energetic, it’s odd that she’d be hanging out with a pretty mellow person, apparently named Ren.

“Nora, I already told you, I already have other plans for today, maybe tomorrow” the young man said, rather calmly. He spoke to her as if he has known her for years. “Besides I have a project that’s due, next week”

The room fell silent as a familiar face walked onto the stage, it was Professor Goodwitch with that zero tolerance look on her face as she walked to the microphone.

“Ahem.” She started into the mic as the room went mostly silent, “Good afternoon students, let me be the first to welcome you to another year at Beacon Academy. As most of you know we hope this is another great year of learning, growth, and most importantly becoming the citizens of tomorrow.”

She paused and turned to her left, “And now a few words from our principal. Professor Ozpin, the stage is yours”

Glynda stepped aside, to allow the older man to take center stage.

“Good afternoon students, faculty, and staff, I’ll try to keep this brief as I’m sure you all would love to go home”, some laughed at this as Ozpin continued, “As most of you know this school was established not too long after the Great War. The people of that era believed it was time to establish a new school, one which would draw in the best and brightest students. Here at Beacon we not only want you to strive to be the best, but to live up to your fullest potential. Freshmen, this is your time to break out of your comfort zone and learn more about the world around you. You have an exciting 3 years to look forward to. As for the second years, this is the time for you to continue your growth and hone the talents you discovered. And for the 3rd years, this year is the time to prepare for the real world. Graduation from Beacon isn’t the end, but simply a door into the next stage of your life.”

He continued, “Also I have one more thing I wish to tell you all today. I know that this is a scary time in many of your lives, some of you might be worried about the criminal activity going on. The political unrest of our country, even in our own city. Or maybe your fears are more grounded in your school and social life. Maybe you’re not sure what you want to do in your life. Maybe you’re afraid of meeting new people, afraid to fail, or afraid to lose something or someone you hold dear. The uncertainty and chaotic nature of this world will take its toll on you in some way or another. I tell you that fear exists in all creatures, it’s what kept humans alive for all this time after all, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. But what matters the most is who we become when we face those fears. Personally, I believe that’s when our masks come off and we see who we truly are.”

For some reason, that made Ruby more interested in the speech, it reminded her of when she awoken to her Persona, it said that it appeared because she faced her fear. Is Red Riding Hood what Ruby is behind her mask?

“Hopefully most of you are still awake”, Ozpin jokingly said, “But I hope something I said today will stick with you. Not just for today, but for the rest of the year as well. Thank you for your time and until we meet again, farewell.”

The old man exited for the stage, as most students began talking again. After that they were excused for the rest of the day.

###### After School

Ruby went straight to the locker room and changed, she was excited to train with a great athlete like Pyrrha. However it looked like she was early or Pyrrha got held up with something, so Ruby decided to head to the track and meet her there.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Jaune was surrounded by Cardin and his friends. 

"Well Jaune-y boy, the time has come. I'm counting on you to make sure that bitch gets what she deserves!" Cardin said

"You think she's allergic?" one of his friends asked

"Who cares? Little miss perfect will probably survive" Cardin responded, "Now, Jaune. You see that set of doors over there?"

Jaune reluctantly nodded his head.

"When she comes out, she has to go underneath the stands to get to the track", said Cardin as he pointed to where he wanted him to be, "Once she's directly below you, drop it. Bonus points if it's a direct hit."

He then turned to one of his friends, "Russel, give him the nest"

The wasp nest had a few of them crawling outside but they were generally calm, one wrong move could set them off.

"Don't drop it", Russel said with a devilish grin on his face.

"Okay, let's get out of her-" Cardin's friend said before he was cutoff.

"No! We're staying here to make sure he actually does it", Cardin ordered them

"Wait, who's that?" another one of his friends said, they pointed at Ruby exiting the building and walking towards the track.

"What the-!?", said Cardin and he immediately grabbed Jaune by the collar, "You tell anyone else about this!?"

"W-what? N-no!", said Jaune

While Ruby was walking towards the stands she heard a lot of movement, that's weird she thought. Pyrrha told her people don't really hang out here until the season started. However she brushed it off and kept moving.

"Hm? It looks like she didn't notice us...", Dove said 

"Hey Sky! Keep an eye on her", Cardin ordered

Suddenly, the door to the school opened, a tall redhead emerged. Pyrrha was finally out and was walking their way.

"There she is!", Cardin then looked towards Jaune, "Now wait for her to be underneath you!"

However, Pyrrha wasn't alone, she was accompanied by a white haired girl, it was Weiss.

"Shit! That's Weiss Schnee!", said Dove said with a worried look on his face, "We have to back out! We might get in bigger trouble!"

"Tch! Who the hell cares?", said Cardin with an angry look on his face, "Besides, they'll only see Jaune, we'll get outta here before they realize we were with him!"

"She's almost here!"

"Jaune!!" A feminine voice said from below, all the boys turned to the source of the sound. It was Ruby.

"Sky! You dumbshit!! I told you to keep an eye on her!", yelled Cardin

"I'm sorry, she went around to the other side!" Sky tried to explain

Ruby did initially write it off, but she felt something was off so she checked it out. She saw Sky trying to look for her so she went to the other end of stands, and when she went up she saw Jaune surrounded by bullies. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew Jaune was in trouble.

"Damn it!! Jaune drop it on her now!", Cardin demanded

Jaune was hesitating, he knew he couldn't do it, hell he didn't _want_ do it. But what choice did he have?

_Is he about to drop that on Pyrrha...?_

_No! He wouldn't do something like that!!_

_What should I tell him? I don't have a lot of time...!!_

"Jaune!" Ruby yelled, "Just do the right thing..."

"The...right...thing?", Jaune muttered out, "Yeah....I know what I have to do..."

He turned towards the bullies and tossed the nest high up in the air then yelled, "Ruby! Run!!"

Jaune ran down towards Ruby as she ran down the stairs. The nest struck the stairs and a vortex of wasps erupted from the point of impact. Both of them made it to cover in time as they ran to the sidewalk area. Suddenly they bumped into Pyrrha and Weiss.

"Huh!?" Pyrrha yelped 

"What th-" Weiss said

"We need to get out of here now!" Jaune said.

"W-what's going on?", Pyrrha asked as she looked up to the stands to see a fury of wasps. They all heard yelps of pain coming from the other side, it looks like Cardin and his friends weren't so lucky.

The group hurried to the athletic center inside. Both Weiss and Pyrrha were a bit shocked at what happened and had many questions, as did Ruby.

"Okay, Jaune, you HAVE to tell us what's going on", Weiss said

Jaune was panting, "R-Right..."

"What were you doing up there with those guys?" Ruby asked, "What was that thing in your hand?"

"I...Uh...", Jaune was hesitating, "I'm in debt to Cardin, and he made me do that to get back at Pyrrha"

"How much do you owe him?" Weiss asked, "Is it really that much that you'd drop a wasp nest on her!?"

She was pretty mad about that, it could of seriously hurt Pyrrha and by extension Weiss too. Had it not been for Ruby's intervention, they'd be covered in stings. 

"What's going on by the track? Is that a tornado? A gust of wind?", a teacher walking by said out loud. The teacher was accompanied by a portly man with a bushy mustache.

"Hoho! It seems there was a bee hive or wasp nest somewhere at the stadium!" the mustached man said, "We should call the city, and ask them to remove it...I hope no one was unlucky enough to be caught in the middle of that..."

"I'm surprised you knew that from all the way over her Professor Port" the other teacher said.

"Oh yes! I remember the time when I was on an expedition through the mountains. One of my partners stepped on a hive and suddenly a storm of bees erupted. Then..."

"Looks like he likes to talk a lot..." said Pyrrha 

"Seriously though Jaune, why were you even up there with those guys? We saw how they treat you", Weiss said 

"I-I told you, I owe him a lot of money-" he was cut off

"I think you're hiding something!" Weiss snapped as she pointed a finger at him, "That's not something you'd do to repay someone! What are you hidi-"

Pyrrha stuck her hand out to stop Weiss, then she turned to him, "Jaune....are you telling us the truth?"

Jaune took a deep breath, "Yes"

"Then we have to believe him", Pyrrha said as she turned to leave, then she stopped and turned to face Ruby, "I'm sorry we couldn't train together today"

The tall redhead had a sad look on her face before she walked away, once both Weiss and Pyrrha left, Ruby spoke up, "You are hiding something aren't you? I think even Pyrrha can tell..."

"You guys wouldn't understand..." Jaune said as he ran away

Ruby decided it was best to head back for the day

###### 

The group of bullies finally got away from the swarm of wasps, all four of them got stung a lot, but it looks like some were in worse shape than others. Their plan to harm Pyrrha ended up blowing up in their face. 

"Jaune is fucking dead!!", said Cardin while striking the nearest wall, but soon winced in pain.

"What do we do now? Should we leak Jaune's information?", Dove suggested

"Tch....!", Cardin started mumbling.

"Yo, Cardin, you alright?", asked Sky 

Cardin was livid, and it was beginning to show, "Everything is Jaune's fault! And that Pyrrha bitch!! And the new girl!!.....I-I'm going to make them pay!!" 

His friends started looking at each other with worried expressions on their faces, he sounded different. He had dealt with people fighting back, even then he'd brush it off and play it cool. They all got stung by the wasps equally, yet for some reason Cardin was the one most ticked off.

"Hey, I can leak the information tonight a Jaune will be kicked out the next week when the school hears about it, you don't have to do anything extreme!", said Dove.

"No! I want to make him suffer! And those 2 bitches too!! T-they dare stand in my way!?" Cardin said angrily.

"Cardin we can't do anything too risky, at this rate we'll be kicked out too!", Sky urged

"I-I'm not really up for this anymore...let's just lay low for now, heal up and we'll get 'em next time...", Russel said.

"AAAGGHHH!!" Cardin grunted in frustration, "You're all a bunch of pussies!! I'll do it myself then!!"

The tall angry young man turned to leave, they were all worried, this behavior was strange even for him.

######  Evening 

"Hey Ruby!!" Yang said as Ruby walked through the door. She was sitting at the desk Glynda would usually be sitting. Yang had her feet up on the desk like she didn't care.

"Oh hey Yang! What are you doing sitting there?" Ruby asked

"Oh, Glynda is out for the night, she's usually not here on weekends", Yang said, "And it falls on the 3rd years to sit at the reception desk...it just happens to be my turn."

She put her feet down to continue, "By the way, you have tomorrow off, do you have any plans?"

"No...not really", Ruby responded

"Well I heard the new Huntsman movie came out, you could go see that tomorrow", suggested Yang

"What about you? You want to come with me?" Ruby offered 

"I'm sorry Ruby, but I have to stay here", said Yang, "I promise I'll be able to spend more time with you soon"

Ruby smiled, "It's okay Yang!"

###### 4/14 Sunday - Daytime

It was already noon and Ruby still hadn't left her room, mostly because she didn't know what to do on a day off, that and she had no one to hang out with. There was Jaune, but he wasn't answering his phone or any text messages. She could ask Pyrrha, but she might already have plans for the day already. Ruby then took a deep breath.

_Well...I'm not going to get any better at talking to people if I stay here._

She decided to get up and get dressed for the day. She wore a short red skirt with black leggings and a pair of red and black boots. In addition she had on a white blouse with a black t-shirt underneath, a black collar necklace, and a red light jacket. She wanted to look attractive, cool, and unique, but she was quite nervous since she's never really gone out by herself, in fact she'd usually sit home and play video games, but she wanted to change even though the road will be difficult.

With another heavy sigh, she left her room and headed down the stairs. She walked down to the lobby to see if anyone was down there. Glynda wasn’t there, but there were a few people in the lobby, no one she recognized though. She overheard their conversation, one of them was wearing a brown sweater and black jeans and black boots, the other wearing a yellow gold shirt with what appeared to be brown stitch marks drawn on her shirt. One looked to be older than Ruby, probably about Yang’s age, and she was reading a fashion magazine.

“Coco, what are we going to do today? I don’t want to just sit here all day!” The long haired girl said almost childlike. She also noticeably had an Australian accent.

“Well you’re going to have to wait, most of my favorite stores don’t open until noon on Sundays”, the girl apparently named Coco said.

“It’s always clothes with you. Why can’t we go out somewhere like to a club or something?”

“Well Velvet, I could get in to one, but there’s no way you could pass for being over 18”, Coco said

 _Velvet and Coco? I feel like I’ve seen them before..._ Ruby thought

The short haired girl noticed Ruby, and tilted her sunglasses to make it obvious she was checking her out, "Hmm...Not a bad outfit kid."

Ruby blushed and said, "Oh..uhh.....thanks..."

"The way your outfit combines red, black, and white is almost perfectly balanced..." the older girl said, "Oh, my apologies, my name is Coco Adel, I'm a 3rd year."

Coco got up from her seat after looking at her phone, "Well, it's time Velvet, let's go..."

"Finally!", Velvet said as she got up to leave with her.

"Well kid, maybe I'll see you around", Coco said pulling her sunglasses down to give flirtatious wink.

Ruby decided to head to the theater to see the new action movie, going alone will probably grow her confidence.

###### 

Meanwhile in the dorms, Cardin was in his room covered in bandages, he sat on his bed extremely frustrated, he wanted to get back at Jaune and Pyrrha but now even his friends aren’t on board with him.

“Damn it!! Those bitch ass motherfuckers!” Cardin yelled, “I need to make him pay! No matter what it takes!!”

“Is that what you desire?” A mysterious voice said

Cardin looked around frantically, he couldn’t spot the source of the voice.

“I must be going insane or something...”, he looked out his window and noticed it was pitch black outside, "W-What the hell!? I could of swore it was daytime!!"

He then noticed that in the center of his room was a puddle of darkness, Cardin went over to inspect it. Suddenly, hands sprung from the puddle wrapping themselves around him and they began dragging him down.

Suddenly he was frozen from fear, but he didn’t understand why. Until the voice said something else, “You said you would do anything?”

“Wh—what are you!?”, He felt hands grabbing his face as he saw nothing but darkness, “W—wait a sec—“ Cardin realized he was sinking down into darkness and began to scream but it was muffled out.

###### 

Ruby went to see The Huntsman, it was a sequel to The Huntsman Begins. The movie was about hero of the same name taking on his toughest challenge yet: The Jester, the complete antithesis of what he believes in, his morals and philosophy are being put to the test. Ruby enjoyed the movie, she loved how the hero refused to back down no matter how challenging it was, because of that she felt more courageous. She left the theater, saw it was sunset, and went back to the dorms.

###### Evening

Pyrrha was sitting at her desk talking to her mother on the phone.

"....I'm okay mom, you don't have to worry, I just....it's just been a stressful week..."

"You can tell me anything dear, what's bothering you?", her mother asked

"I-I thought it'd be different here, but..." answered Pyrrha, "It's still happening...everyone still puts me on a pedestal instead of talking to me...well not everyone"

"Well that's good", Pyrrha's mother said, "Does that mean you're making friends?"

"Actually...yes", said Pyrrha, "but...one of my friends...they're going through something and I'm trying to help them, but they keep pushing me away..."

"Hmm...It seems like they don't want you to get involved", her mother responded

"I think that's their intention but-", the lights shut off in Pyrrha's room as she spoke, "Huh?"

She looked around to see if the electricity was out or maybe she accidentally flicked the lights off.

"I'm sorry mom, the power went off for some...", the tall redhead looked at her phone to see that it was off, she tried pressing the power button, it came on but there was no service. She decided to inspect the hallway to see if there was anyone else, only to find out it was empty and the lights were off. She walked to the nearest window to see that the city looked normal, but the streets were completely empty. Even for a Sunday that's weird. Suddenly she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. A heavily armored humanoid figure walked up, Pyrrha was frozen with fear. The figure turned towards her, it had glowing yellow eyes and it looked a lot like....Cardin?

"Why hello there..."


	6. Awakening 2

###### 4/15 Monday - Morning - Overcast

Ruby was drowsy but she knew Oobleck wouldn’t accept her laying her head down for even a nanosecond, she’d be lucky to sleep in Port's class if possible.

She overheard Weiss, “Where is she? It’s not like her to not answer my text messages, let alone be late for school”

Who was this person she was talking about? She seemed genuinely worried about them. The bell rung signifying that class was about to begin, Oobleck sped through the door ready to begin his lecture.

###### Lunchtime

Jaune noticed something different. It felt off, like something was missing. He wasn’t sure what it was. He walked to the cafeteria to get some food, he then saw Cardin’s group of friends who had a worried look on their face.

“What happened to him? He hasn’t shown up for class!” One of them said

“Yeah that’s weird, I hope he didn’t act on what he said...”

“You think he did something to that Pyrrha girl?”

This made Jaune’s eyes widen, just what were they talking about?

“Do you think we have time to check his room back at the dormitory?”

“There’s no way, it’ll take too much time...”

One of them looked at Jaune to which he acted like he wasn’t eavesdropping. He hurried into line.

Ruby was walking down the hallway when she received a text message from Jaune.

J: Hey Ruby, did you hear?”

R: What is it?

J: Apparently Cardin’s not here today”

R: Isn’t that a good thing?

J: I overheard his friends, they said he was acting strange and he was trying to do something to me and Pyrrha.

R: That doesn’t sound good

J: Did Pyrrha come to school today?

R: I don't know...I'll ask Weiss

_I should probably wait until after school to talk to her..._

###### After School

Ruby approached Weiss slowly after the last bell rung, she wasn't exactly sure what to ask...unless...

"H-hey Weiss!" Ruby said

The white haired girl looked at her with daggers, Ruby reeled back a little.

"What do you want?" 

_Ah crap!! What do I say?_

"Did Pyrrha come to school today...", now all Ruby had to do is think of a good reason, "I wanted to train with her since we got...interrupted the other day..."

Weiss looked down, "...No she didn't come to school today..."

"Did something happen to her?"

"I don't know, but it's not like her to just not show up..." Weiss then continued, "Well, I have to go now..."

"Well...um...See you later!" Ruby said trying to be friendly to her, but Weiss didn't return the gesture as she immediately left. It was a little disheartening, she was very cold to her for almost no reason, but at least they got an idea of what was happening with Pyrrha.

R: I found out something

J: What did you find?

R: Pyrrha didn't come to school today

J: Oh no! What happened to her?

R: I don't know...let's meet up near the entrance

Ruby met with Jaune in the courtyard out front.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"You said Cardin didn't come to school today, right?" Ruby asked

"Yeah, and you told me Pyrrha didn't come to school either...that can't be a coincidence..right?"

"I really don't know but we can't ignore this", she paused, "Do you think they somehow got stuck in that strange world?"

"Ruby that's impossible! How did they even get in?"

That was a good question, they needed an app to get in. Besides they didn't know for sure if they were even there to begin with. However it is a strong possibility seeing as it is, at least according to the people that knew Cardin and Pyrrha, it's not like them to cut class or not show up without giving a reason why.

"Let's wait for more information first, we can't just jump in without knowing first", Jaune said. Suddenly, Ruby's phone buzzed, it was Yang.

Y: Hey Ruby, you need to head back to the dorm now.

R: What happened?

Y: I don't know...

Y: All I was told is that every student who lives in the dorm has to go there now

R: Okay, I'll head right over

###### Evening - Clear Skies

Ruby and Jaune entered at the same time, they saw 3 police officers talking to Glynda. They couldn't hear the conversation, but the officers left soon after they entered. They looked at the officers as they walked by, and they turned to Glynda to see her looking very worried. She turned away and crossed her arms with her head facing the ground. The teens approached her, but neither of them knew what to say.

Jaune had the courage to say something, "...What was that about?"

The professor quickly turned, she didn't notice them at first, but she urgently adjusted her glasses, "Mr. Arc, Miss Rose! You're both late! Weren't you told to come back to the dorms immediately?"

Great, they took too long getting back.

She sighed heavily, "Well whatever the reason is, try not to be late again."

"Professor, why were the police here?", Ruby asked.

"Well that's why I asked everyone to return immediately, we needed to tell you that we have 2 students missing..." Glynda trailed off, "And we never saw them leave this morning...there's also no evidence that the back door was forced open either." Ruby and Jaune's eyes widened, then Glynda continued to explain, "The door to the roof is never locked but there's no way there'd be no witnesses seeing them run down the fire escape."

Based on what Glynda is telling them, Pyrrha and Cardin disappeared without a trace, nor did they leave behind any evidence of a struggle. 

"Now please return to your rooms, I have to contact their parents", the professor walked past hem pulling out her phone. It was probably best for them to go to bed for the night.

###### 4/16 - Tuesday - Light Rain - Morning 

Ruby was listening to the lecture when her phone buzzed, it was Jaune.

J: We're going in today right?

R: Yeah, did something else come up?

J: No, but i brought something that might help...

R: What is it?

J: You'll see 

"Ruby Rose!!" Ruby's head shot up, she got caught on her phone by Oobleck, "On your phone I see!"

He cocked his arm back to throw his chalk at her, it flew across the room at lightning speed and struck her in the forehead. It stung a bit, it wasn't too bad, but she heard the class howl with laughter. 

"Now Miss Rose, if you don't want to be embarrassed again, keep your phone in your pocket", the Professor said, "Now as I was saying..."

###### After School - Overcast

Ruby met with Jaune behind the school to discuss their next action.

“Ruby, are. You. Sure?”

“Yes Jaune, I’m sure. The way they disappeared just isn’t normal. We have to at least check.”

“Now that you mention it, I heard some rumors at school, I heard that even the police can’t find any leads. This is probably our best option...”

Ruby pulled out her phone to begin the app, however Jaune stopped her. “Wait, Ruby!”

“What is it?”

He unzipped his baseball bag to reveal a Naginata, “I thought you might need a weapon when you went in so I uhh...got this for you...”

He handed her the weapon, for some reason she really liked it, “This is awesome! Where did you get it?”

“Well I had it because...I accidentally packed it with my other stuff from home...it’s probably one of my sister’s but they probably won’t notice. Plus I thought a weapon like that suits you best...”, Jaune trailed off as he turned to Ruby who began twirling it around and making ninja sounds like a kid, “....uhhhh....Ruby?”

“Oh sorry...heheh I just really like weapons like this...” Ruby said embarrassed, “Okay, no one is looking, right? Let’s go!”

There was a strong gust of wind as the sun accelerated across the sky and went down the horizon as the moon rose to take its place and it was now dark as night. The wind then stopped. The previously packed courtyard was now empty, and the school was replaced with the gigantic dark castle.

As Ruby and Jaune made it to the front door, Jaune spoke up “Let’s be really careful this time, I don’t want to either of us to get hurt. If you encounter any of those monsters from last time I’ll stay out of the way, okay?”

Ruby nodded her head in agreement. The interior looked exactly like the school except there were dark stones protruding from various points and the ground was made of dark purple stone instead of concrete.

“Any ideas for where to look first?” Ruby asked

“Well upstairs are a no-go for me...remember the hallway changed on us?” Jaune stated, “If Pyrrha was taken here there should be some sign that she is, let’s look around.”

They went down the first corridor to the left which lead to the assembly hall, there wasn’t much of anything there. The room was adorned with stained glass windows instead of regular glass though. Jaune was sure to keep an eye on their surroundings just in case something wanted to sneak up on them. Next they went down the middle hallway closest to the entrance, this lead to the student academic facilities such as the computer labs and the library. The library was large for a high school, but yet again they found nothing. The last one they went down was the hallway to the left of the entrance which lead to the athletic facilities, which included a swimming pool, workout room, 2 locker rooms, an alternate locker room for visiting teams or guests, the gymnasium for Basketball and volleyball. Unfortunately their search turned up empty.

“Well this is frustrating...” Ruby said, “I was positive they’d be here.”

“Is there anywhere else we haven’t looked?”

Ruby thought for a second and had an idea, “Jaune do you know where Cardin likes to hang out at school?”

“Why do you think I know?” Jaune, but then he thought about it, who else would know better than him?

“Wait a sec...we didn’t check the downstairs area!” Jaune remembered, “There are a few classrooms down there, but after school no one is down there until the janitors show up.”

“Do you know the way down?” Ruby asked

“Yeah but we have to go back to the assembly hallway again...”

Ruby lead the way and when they made it the entrance, dark creatures were waiting for them. She immediately called out to her persona “Red Riding Hood!!” Her persona spun its scythe around to create a gust of wind which pushed the monsters back, “Okay, time to put this girl to work!” Ruby said excitedly as she swung the Naginata around to slice a monster. It cleaved straight through cutting it in half.

Jaune has his mouth agape in surprise, he certainly didn’t expect that. “Ruby, I didn’t think that would happen...it is a replica after all...”

“It was!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“It was mostly for show....I think...”

Once they made it to the Assembly Hall area they saw the entrance to the basement, they went down the stairs and noticed it looked very different. It looked more like a prison or dungeon than a basement. The hallways were lined with bricks as opposed to the dark purple walls of the castle above.

“Wait a second, why does this area look so different from everywhere else? The school doesn’t have prison!” Jaune pointed out

“School is like a prison sometimes...” Ruby jokingly said

“You must have nerves of steel or something...”

They traveled down the flame lit hallway to see what looked like a receptionist desk. Behind there sat a humanoid figure made of darkness with completely red eyes like one of those dark creatures.

“Umm...excuse me”, Ruby said politely, “Why is there a jail down here?”

“This is a prison for the enemies of Cardin Winchester”, the dark figure said casually

Both Ruby and Jaune were startled by this, but at least it confirmed Cardin was here in this world.

“W-where is Cardin?” Jaune asked

“He’s on the floors below with a very unruly prisoner” The dark figure said, then he continued, “He plans to execute her soon as well”

“W-wait a second who is this prisoner?”

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that question”

The radio next to the figure made a low beep sound, “It’s okay, let them pass. Allow them to go to the common area, no further than that.”

“Well then, please follow me”

“They’re just letting us in?” Ruby asked

There was an elevator that lead further down, this shouldn’t be possible as there is no way the school has a large prison complex beneath it. When the door opened it looked like an underground prison, they were greeted by a hallway which lead to a open area surrounded by prison cells.

“Well hello there Jauney-boy” a familiar voice said, they both looked up to see Cardin clad in armor and wielding a giant mace. “It’s about time you showed up!”

“Wait, doesn’t he seem different from usual?” Ruby observed

“Yeah, something really does seem off”, Jaune said

“That’s because I’m the Shadow, the true self." Cardin said

_A Shadow? Is that what they're all called?_

“Were you waiting for us or something?” Jaune asked

“Yes I was, you kept me waiting to”

“What’s going on here? Where is Pyrrha!?” Ruby asked

“She’s further below, deep in the depths of this prison.”

“Let her go you dick!” Jaune yelled at him

“Wait how deep is this place? I’m pretty sure the school’s basement doesn’t even go this deep underground...” Ruby thought out loud

“Yeah that is weird...”

“I was chosen to be the warden of this place!”

“Chosen by who?”

“That doesn’t concern you, all you have to know is that this place is my territory gifted to me”, Cardin said proudly, “Now time to eliminate the kid!”

He pointed at Ruby then shouted, “Alright boys, take her out! She’s the only one who can fight back!”

“No!” Jaune shouted

3 black figures appeared and transformed into lions with a ball and chain which had a mask on the ball. Ruby readied herself for a fight.

“Persona!!” Ruby yelled, Red Riding Hood appeared and swung its massive scythe. This only grazed 2 of them while the other continued its assault. Ruby tried to slash it herself, but it didn’t do much damage.

“Damn it!! I’m useless here...and Ruby’s fighting for her life...” Jaune said ashamedly, “There has to be something I can do...”

“These things can take a lot...I don’t think physically attacking them is doing much”, Ruby said as she focused on evading the monsters. Jaune ran in to tackle one of the shadows, it didn't work and he barely managed to evade its counterattack.

“Damn it...it’s just like at school...I keep trying to do everything myself but in the end I’m just useless....” Jaune began to weep

“Ah, so you finally get it” Cardin said, “How long are you gonna let people fight your battles for you?”

"Shut up!!", Jaune began charging towards Shadow Cardin. He immediately side stepped the attack and struck his abdomen with his mace. Jaune flew back and hit the ground.

Ruby tried using Garu to push the shadows back. It was barely working. So she decided to use another technique, a green aura surrounded her for a split second increasing her speed, accuracy, and evasion. This made dodging their powerful attacks easier, but Ruby still couldn’t turn the tide.

“It looks like she’s going to die for your sake, just Pyrrha will”, Shadow Cardin said confidently, "I wonder how she'll feel when I tell her what kind of person she's protecting...

Jaune grimmaced, "No..."

"Hey pipsqueak! You want to know a little secret about your friend here?" 

Ruby looked over for a second, she saw Jaune on his back and decided to charge towards him.

"It might interest you to know that he faked his transcripts to get into Beacon!"

This made Ruby pause for a second, a second too long as a Shadow hit her causing her to slide on the floor. She stood up after being down a few seconds but she still pressed forward. Ruby helped him up, but Jaune was still distraught that his secret had been revealed. Now someone else knows, if she wanted to she could get Jaune kicked out of Beacon. However, Ruby already decided she wasn't going to do it

“Why does everything I do lead to people getting hurt?” Jaune began to cry, “I’m still that dumbass who can’t do anything! I keep pushing people away when they try to help...when am I going to learn!!?”

A slap went across his face, and Jaune fell to the ground.

“Oops! Sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you so hard!”, Ruby apologized, but then she became more stern, “Jaune, I’ve known you for about a week, but I can see your problem.”

“What...do yo—“ Jaune said as he was interrupted.

“You’re so fixated on trying to live up to your father and grandfather’s legacy, but you don’t realize something...” Ruby trailed off as she ran towards the shadows, “Red...Riding...Hood!!!”

Her Persona’s scythe managed to land a critical hit knocking one to the ground, then Ruby continued, “You’re never going to get if you keep denying the truth!”

Ruby continued, "If you felt like you needed to cheat your way into Beacon, that was your choice. Now it's up to you to show that you deserve to be at Beacon..."

Jaune’s eyes widened, that’s right. Deep down he knew it.

He stood up and spoke, “You’re right Ruby, all this time I was afraid of accepting the truth...well...not anymore!”

_So you’re finally facing the truth?_

Jaune’s heartbeat sped up while giving him a splitting headache.

_If you wish to take charge, discover your true talents, and prove your worth then let us form a contract!_

_I am thou, thou art I_

_Now that you’ve faced your fear, fight it with all your heart!!_

“AHHHHHHHH!!!!”, Jaune yelled at the top of his lungs as he was engulfed by blue pillar of light. As the light dissipated it revealed a knight with a helmet that covered its face except it’s glowing blue eyes. It also had a blue and gold striped cape. “Maybe I can’t do everything on my own, but I’m never going to run away from my problems again.” Jaune said with a more confident look on his face.

"You gotta be kidding me!", Shadow Cardin, "Guards!! Take them out now!!"

“Ruby, I can help! I can give you support!” Jaune said to Ruby

“Alright, let’s do this!” Ruby said

“Let’s go King Arthur!” Jaune told his persona, as he charged in with Ruby.

Ruby went for another attack, before she could she was surrounded by a aura of red light. “I boosted your attack Ruby! You should pack more of a punch now!”

He was right, Ruby felt more powerful now, she summoned Red Riding Hood to have her attack again. This time she cleaved through the shadow with ease. One more left.

“Ruby, leave this one to me”, said Jaune, “You guys have helped me so much, it’s time I returned the favor...”

He summoned his persona and it used Assault Dive to destroy the shadow with a single move. The room was clear, and so was Cardin’s shadow. He must've ran away in the middle of the battle. 

“Cardin!! Cardin!! Stop hiding!!” Jaune shouted, He then collapsed from exhaustion, he couldn’t get up, "Damn it!! I can’t...let him...”

"Jaune, let's get out of here!!”

“We can't leave without Pyrrha!”

“I don’t think he’s going to do anything right now, he might be luring us into another trap”, Ruby grabbed Jaune’s arm to help him up, “Besides, you’re in no condition to keep fighting. There’s no point in going on if we’re exhausted...”

Jaune looked down, “.....You’re right...but we come back first thing after school tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

They were outside the castle and deactivated the app, the sky then turned back to a daytime sky. It wasn’t quite sunset but it was getting close. They had to get back to the dorms immediately.

“Well...that happened...”, Jaune said still coming to terms with what just transpired.

“That was amazing Jaune!”, Ruby said enthusiastically, “ Now we have the same powers!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have believed this would happen in a million years!” Jaune’s expression turned to a more serious one, “More importantly, we have to rescue Pyrrha no matter what. With us working together, I’m sure we can do it!”

“Yeah!” Ruby, gave him a high five. Did Ruby just make a genuine friend? That wasn’t her sister? This bond will most likely come in handy. For a split second a flash went off in her head. She was dazed for a second but shook it off, then she pulled out her phone and looked at the time, “Oh crap! We gotta get back to the dorms pronto! I really don’t want to get in trouble now!”

“Oh you’re right, let’s go, quick!!”

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them, it was a white haired girl. She was mystified at what she saw, but also heard something: they know where Pyrrha is.

“What were they doing just now?” Weiss asked herself.

###### Evening - Clear Skies 

Glynda greeted them as they walked through the door, "Hello, how was your day?"

"Oh it was good, how about you?" answered Ruby

"That's good. Also, I'm glad you're not traveling alone but try to return to the dorms earlier next time.", the professor said as they walked by her.

As They approached the stairs Jaune whispered, “I think it’s best if we keep quiet about this, I doubt anyone will believe what we’re doing...”

Ruby nodded her head in agreement. However, what if Yang found out? Could she hide the truth from her? She trusts her sister, but would she believe something this crazy? Hopefully I won’t come to that.

“Well I’m exhausted, I’m going to bed. Good night, Ruby.” Jaune turned walk up the stairs, “And remember: after school tomorrow.”

“Got it”, Ruby assured him.

When Ruby returned to her room, she felt more tired than usual, she once again, fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

She awoke to the velvet room.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room” Igor said

“It appears as though you have awakened to the power of the Magician Arcana” Julius said, “It’s the first of, hopefully, many more bonds that will light the path on your journey.”

“Now, go forth, and continue to create and nurture even more social links”, Igor said, “Also, the next time you come here will be completely up to you. However, as per our contract, I will summon you if there is an important matter we must discuss.”

###### 4/16 Wednesday - Early Morning - Sunny 

Ruby was walking towards the school when Jaune caught up to her, looks like he finally got up on time.

"Morning Ruby!", he said rather enthusiastically.

"Morning!", then Ruby remembered, "Wait aren't you being a bit too calm?"

Jaune looked down, "N...no I haven't forgotten. But I thought about something last night, shouldn't we be more prepared?". He was right, they should have items to help with their wounds and injuries. Even if their personas could heal, it's good to have items on hand. If that weren't enough, Jaune doesn't have a weapon either. The biggest problem was that she had no idea where to go to get weapons, even if she did who in their right mind would sell it to kids? They probably have to go to someone shady, but how? And would it be safe? Affordable? 

"Do you know any places that sell weapons?", Ruby asked.

"No I don't...BUT I can ask around, maybe someone knows something?"

######  Lunchtime - Partly Cloudy

Ruby headed towards the cafeteria. While waiting in line she thought of places to go, she even looked up a place but all of them were expensive and had to be ordered offline. They don’t have that kind of time, Pyrrha is in danger, the longer the take the longer her life is at risk.

“Man I’m really scared to walk home now, crime is skyrocketing and now 2 students got kidnapped...I could really use some kind of self defense or weapon...”, a pair of students were talking in front of her, maybe they know something.

“Well, I heard there’s a bar in Fandango that sells weapons to people. I’m not talking pocketknives or anything, I’m talking about shit like swords and kunais....”

“Where is it?”

"Dunno, I heard it's in the Silent Alley area, word on the street is the have a ton of weapons in one of them...I can't remember the name but apparently there were symbols of spiders all over the place..."

"That sounds creepy..."

_A bar in Silent Alley?_

_This might be worth looking into..._

After finishing her lunch she needed to use the restroom, on the way there she ran into Weiss, she gave her a quite ominous stare. "Hey Weiss! Is something wrong?", Ruby said to acknowledge her. She was silent at first, so Ruby continued to move on until she said something that made her stop cold.

"What were you guys doing in the courtyard yesterday?", Weiss asked like this was now an interrogation, "I heard you mentioned Pyrrha's name too, do you know something about her disappearance?"

Ruby was trapped in a corner, they were caught just as she had feared. Now she has to tell Weiss, but how could Ruby explain it in a way that made sense? Would she even believe her? If Weiss is this determined, it’s probably better to tell her the truth.

“Okay...I know this will sound insane, but...she’s being held captive in a different world with a dark version of Cardin”, Ruby explained as Weiss glared at her with a confused look on her face, “And we have a limited time to rescue her before she ends up dead along with Cardin...”

Weiss’s expression changed from confusion to anger, “Are you messing with me!? Are you high on something!?”

Ruby was beginning to cower because of the white haired girl’s wrath.

“That’s unbelievable, I can’t believe how little respect you have for me!”

Ruby sighed, “I knew you wouldn’t believe me...”

“If you’re lying to me, why do you look so honest!? Why aren’t you laughing?” 

“So you believe me?” asked Ruby

“Of course not...but....you don’t seem like the lying type....tch!” Weiss said before she walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruby’s Persona Red Riding Hood, has the skills Cleave, Garu, Sukunda, and Sukukaja
> 
> Jaune's Persona King Arthur with the skills Assault Dive, Tarukaja, Dia, and Rakukaja
> 
> Also with all of the things going on right now, wherever you live (United States or otherwise), I hope you're staying safe.


	7. No Way Out

After School

R: Hey Jaune, I heard of a place in Fandango that sells weapons!

J: Oh really!?

J: Wait...is it a sketchy place?

R: It’s in a bar 

J: I...have no idea where that is, but we don’t have much time

J: Let’s go there today and see what we can get

Ruby left the school immediately to meet up with Jaune. They made it to the Central Street Union Station where all trains meet up for transfers.

“Okay, how to get to Fandango...” Jaune thought out loud

“How long have you lived in Vale?” Ruby asked

“I-Uh...keep losing the subway train map...besides the dorms and school I have no idea which train to transfer to...” admitted Jaune.

Ruby giggled, “I remember the way. Yang showed me around last week”

The entertainment district of Vale, Fandango, home to movie theaters, arcades, a shopping center, the famous (or infamous) Silent Alley. It’s called this because despite the clubs and bars playing music, none of it can be heard on the street level. Though it was called an Alley, it’s actually large enough to be a street, but the people prefer the road to not have any cars driving through. Most of the clubs went downstairs to the basements of the building that lined the street.  
“Wow! It’s pretty nice around here, it’s the perfect place to take someone on a date...” Jaune said offhandedly, Ruby shot him a look, “Right, right, weapons...”

"They said the place is adorned wit drawings of spiders...", Ruby relayed to Jaune.

They looked at the clubs' signs, one stood out, it read "Spider's Nest", that must be the place they're looking for. They headed down the stairs slowly, they weren’t sure what was about to happen. They had to be careful with their words, who knows how dangerous they are. Ruby pushed the door, to reveal a room with brick walls all around, 10 black tables with red drawings of webs and white candles in the middle, 4 booths with the same design, a bar with a variety of drinks on the shelf. There sat 2 similar looking girls, both of whom couldn’t be much older than Yang. They both looked right at the under aged teens who just casually waltzed into the bar.

“We don’t open until 7pm, and we don’t let teenagers in” the one in a red dress and short black hair said rather plainly.

“We—“ began Ruby but was cutoff

“Leave now, or we’ll force you out.”, said the one with longer hair and wore a light blue dress.

Ruby was frozen.

Is this the wrong place!? Oh crap!

“W-Wait a second! We heard that this place sells weapons to anyone....and uh we were interested!” Said Jaune quickly

The apparent twins looked at each other and back at the teens.

“Where did you hear this rumor?”

“A-at school...” Ruby said reluctantly

The red dressed girls sighed, “I wish we didn’t let that rumor slip out...”

The blue dress girl looked at them and said, “We’ll be right back, have a seat anywhere if you’d like.”

They went to a hallway that lead to the back. They were both more comfortable standing than sitting in this place, they also wanted to be ready in case they had to run for their lives. A few minutes passed, and the twins returned.

“The owner would like to speak to you two...” the red dressed girls said.

They went down the hallway to an office, a man with a goatee opened the door for them and closed it behind them, at the desk was a large woman with short light brown hair sat, she wore a purple, red and white dress. She seemed to be eating a bowl of frozen yogurt with fruit when they entered.

“So...who are you two? Did you get lost on your little date or something?” The woman asked. She was a bit intimidating, and it didn’t help that she had a bodyguard like mob boss.

“Well..uhh...no...” Ruby muttered

“You heard that this place sells weapons to anyone, even children such as yourselves?”

“Y-Yeah...that’s what we heard”, Jaune said

“Why do you need it? You could get a pocketknife from a corner store, it’s much cheaper than getting it from me”, she said bluntly, “How rude of me, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Lil Miss Malachite, I own this bar along with my daughters Melanie and Miltia”

“Lil Miss?” Asked Ruby

“Yes, that is the name I go by, mostly because I don’t want people knowing me on a personal basis especially with my shady connections”, Lil Miss said, “Now because the weapons I have are actually real, that makes it very risky to sell to minors such as yourself. I can’t have police picking up on my little operation here...”

Both Ruby and Jaune gulped as they heard about the ‘operation’.

“Now, tell me why you need weapons from me. They can get really expensive, I’m talking hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and depending on how I feel, it could reach the millions. Something I know teenagers like yourselves don’t have”

They both began feeling disappointed, but a light went off in Ruby’s head. “I’m a weapons collector! A-and I really want to get my hands on the real stuff...” Ruby said a little waiver, however it looks like Lil’ Miss was buying it because she perked up as if she was interested. “P-Please sell us weapons at a reasonable price, I don’t want to buy replicas!”

A smile formed on Lil’ Miss’ face, “A weapons collector? Well sweetie, you came to the right place I’ll let you see what I have for now, if you’re a true collector I know you’ll be back when I have new items”

“Wow! Thanks—“ Jaune began to say but was cut off.

"However, I want you to agree to 2 things..."

"What is it?", Ruby asked.

"First rule; Don't let the police find out. I really don't want them snooping around here", Lil Miss said looking intently at Ruby, "Second rule; only come here for weapons. If you're a loyal customer, I'll sell the better stuff for a more reasonable price."

Ruby looked down, she didn't really have a choice but to agree to her conditions. Besides, who else would sell them weapons? There's no way they could buy weapons without drawing suspicion from others.

"Okay, it's a deal."

"Alright", Lil' Miss said as she pressed a button on her phone, "Junior. Show them the cache..."

She turned to the two and said, "Go back down the stairs, my assistant will show you where to go."

They walked back down the stairs and was greeted by a tall man, who was taller than Jaune, this must be Junior, “Follow me, I’ll show you where we keep everything.”

He called for Melanie and Miltia to come with her to kitchen then to the fridge, when they opened it they moved a shelf over that had a side door. When they opened it, they were met with an armory. They saw Several display cases with various pole arms, swords, katanas, hammers, spears, knives, knuckles/fighting gloves, and a few guns as well. No wonder it’s well hidden, the cops would shut this place down if they caught wind of a bar with an armory in its kitchen.

"We can't sell you some stuff right now, we have...other obligations..", Melanie said. Whatever she was implying must mean there is some 'other' people coming in, probably some of the more shady connections.

“Hey Ruby, here’s some cash in case you need something, and be sure to get me something nice” said Jaune as he handed Ruby $100

“Wait you have that kind of money?” Ruby asked

“Y..yeah...my sister sends me money every month especially since I don’t have a job...” said Jaune while he rubbed the back of his head.

“You have any preferences?” Ruby asked before she bought something for him

“Probably a 2 handed sword, it’s similar enough to baseball bats, I should be fine”

“...Very reassuring...” Ruby responded

She then proceeded to browse the selection of weapons Lil Miss' bar had available. She saw a long sword, it looked ordinary, nothing spectacular, it’s perfect for Jaune. “I’ll take that one”, Ruby requested.

"Here you go, don't do anything stupid with it.", Junior said as he handed the sword to her, “Careful, it is sharp”

“Wait, that’s a legit sword? Where did you get it?” Jaune asked

"I'm not allowed to tell you that"

The girl in the red dress, Miltia, spoke “Do you want a protector? I’m sure it’ll fit underneath your school uniform”

“Um...sure...” said Ruby

_Actually that would come in handy_

She decided to buy a light bulletproof vest for both herself and Jaune. After they were done shopping, Lil Miss said to them “Be careful not to be caught with that stuff, hide it in your bags if you have to”.

It was still daylight outside, they had time to go one more place. Then Ruby remembered how tough some of the shadows are, if they wanted to stand a chance they needed items to heal themselves.

“Jaune, do you know of any pharmacy nearby?” Ruby asked

“Yeah, I actually haven’t been there before...but we can check it out and see what we can find” said Jaune

The store was beneath a residential building, the sign in front read ‘Central Square Pharmacy’, the interior was white with many shelves of a variety medicines and Vitamins. They weren’t exactly sure what to look for. Then a person wearing a brown sweater with a light brown skirt and a lab coat, “Good afternoon, welcome to the Central Square Pharmacy, my name Dr. Amber, is there anything I can help you with today?”

“We’re looking for medicine that...helps us recover...?” Jaune said

“Hm?” The doctor was confused

Ruby jumped in to explain what he meant, “Well....you see we both do sports after school and we get really fatigued and we never have the energy to do our homework at night.”

“Well that means you need a stimulant, however I can’t give you some of the more potent medication unless you have a prescription”, Dr. Amber said

Well they certainly didn’t have time for that.

“Well...what can you give us?” Ruby asked

“A few vitamins...an energy pill...caffeine pills...I don’t really recommend that for teenagers”, the doctor said, “There are also pain killers if you’re feeling that sore after your practices.”

“What about treating wounds or bruises? I uh...get hit a lot”, asked Jaune

“There’s medical ointment, it’ll patch you up real quick.” Answered the Doctor.

Ruby made the selections needed for them to be prepared to go in and rescue Pyrrha. The medical ointment was relatively cheap, and a few energy pills would definitely come in handy.

They exited the store to see it was almost sunset, they couldn’t go in to the Nocturne today without drawing attention to themselves. So they decided to return to the dorm for the day.

“Okay Ruby, after school tomorrow we’re going in, this time we have to save Pyrrha”, Jaune said, “And.....I have to apologize for lying to her...”

“We’ll save her, I promise” Ruby said placing her hand on his shoulder

###### 4/17 Thursday - After School - Sunny

Ruby was about to launch the app, but little did she know there was someone in the vicinity who was tailing them.

“What...are they doing?” a girl whispered to herself.

The world suddenly shifted to night, the school transformed into the familiar demonic castle, Ruby and Jaune were about to enter until they heard a voice.

“Oh my god!! What is going on!?”

They both turned around to see Weiss had unknowingly entered with them. She had a shocked expression on her face, it was understandable because she never thought she’d see something like this.

“Weiss!? How did you get in here?” Jaune asked

“Wh-What is this place!? What happened to the school!?” Weiss frantically asked.

“It’s a long story, but it’s really dangerous here!” Said Jaune

“I thought you guys where lying to me, but is it true Pyrrha is here?” Weiss asked

“Yes” Ruby answered

“Ruby no—!” Jaune said

“....So you were telling the truth the entire time...” Weiss then paused, “Let me help, I want to make sure she’s safe and...”

“Weiss it’s too dangerous for you, there...there are monsters called Shadows that attack anyone...”, Jaune paused, “Only we have the power to fight them”

“I...I won’t leave!” said Weiss defiantly

“Hey Ruby...what should we do?” Jaune asked

On one hand, Weiss deserves to know the truth and Pyrrha is her friend. However, she is a liability and if she gets hurt or, worst case scenario, dies it’ll be their fault.

“Weiss, you can come with us if you want, but you have to stay behind us”, Ruby said

“Thank you, I’ll be sure not to get in the way”

They went in to the prison, whereupon they heard an intercom, “Keep you eye open for intruders! I know they’ll be back, so stay on guard!”

“Why is there an underground prison underneath the school? Does anyone else know about this?” Weiss asked

“We...really don’t know...it kinda just appeared...” answered Jaune.

They were now at the center of the prison where they were previously. Shadow Cardin said Pyrrha was being held at the lowest level, which means they had to go down.

“Let’s look around for an elevator or stairs” Ruby said, “Weiss, please don’t wander off too far...”

“I know, you dolt. You don’t have to keep reminding me!” Weiss said

Great, now she’s complaining  
They went down the nearest hallway to find an elevator that went further down. Jaune went up to press it.

“Please slide your keycard ID to proceed”

“Wait what!?”, said Jaune in disbelief, “We don’t have time for this!”

He slashed it with his sword, then a loud alarm went off.

“Huh!? I-I didn’t know that’d happen!!” Said Jaune

“Now they know we’re here!” Weiss shouted, she then ran for cover as 2 shadows dressed like police officers charged towards them. One turned into an arm made of stone with an electric blade in its hand, the other turned into a lion with a ball and chain.

“What the—!? How are you guys going to fight those things?” Weiss asked

“Persona!” Jaune shouted as Arthur emerged from an aura of blue energy.

“Persona!!” Shouted Ruby as well, and Red Riding Hood appeared.

Weiss was in awe, she couldn’t understand what was happening.

Arthur sliced at lion shadow, but he missed, and it counterattacked with Double Fangs, knocking Jaune back, “Damn! I’m still not used to this!”

“Jaune!” exclaimed Ruby as her attention shifted to him, but this was a careless action as the statue slashed at her. She managed to dodge at the last second though.

“Take this!!”, Red Riding Hood began rotating her scythe to create a gust of wind, but the Shadow shrugged it off. It then raised it sword and caused a bolt of lightning to strike Ruby. “Agh!!” Ruby winced in pain, but this was different, she couldn’t move and was electrified, “Wh-what’s going on? I-is this my Persona’s weakness?”

Jaune turned to see Ruby was down, “I’ll be over there as soon as I can! Just give me a few—“

He was swiped by the lion’s claw and hit the wall, he wasn’t finished but that hurt quite a bit.

“Damn...if only...I could...move...” Ruby said trying to pick herself up but the shock was too much. Suddenly she saw the Velvet Room, with Igor and Julius there, then she heard the words, “Ah, it’s time for us to lend our assistance. Remember; you possess the power of the wild card. Due to you nurturing your bonds you’re able to call upon new power. New power that will be of great use to you.”

Ruby’s card changed from The Fool to The Magician, Red Riding Hood began to turn white and fade out into a different shape.

It then said, “I am Red Riding Hood, the other you that exists within, though I will depart from you at this moment, remember that I am always by your side...”

Ruby clutched the card in her hand shattering it, “Jack Frost!!”

There was a short snowman with a blue hat on, and an adorable smile. So this the Wild Card ability Igor was talking about?

Jack Frost wasn’t affected by the electricity, Ruby recovered and managed to stand back up.

“Use Bufu!” Ruby said to her newly acquired Persona, then Jack Frost created a few ice blocks to hit the Shadow. This was its weakness and it fell to the ground, dropping its sword.

“W-what..?” Jaune stared in awe but then remembered he was fighting something as well, the shadow leapt towards him. He managed to block it in time and gained some distance between them. Suddenly a sphere of purple light surrounded the shadow and closed in on it.

“I just lowered its defense! Let’s attack it together!” Ruby said, “Sonic Punch!”

This strike attack did more damage than usual, it even managed to knock it down.

“You ready, Ruby? Let’s finish this!”

They both rushed in and attacked with all they had. This was more than enough, the shadow evaporated into nothingness.

“So...you can use more than one persona? That’s not fair!” Jaune complained

“I-I have so many questions...” Weiss muttered out as she got out from her hiding place.

“I...I don’t know why I can change Personas...but it’ll be very useful!” Ruby said

“You’re the first one to unlock the power, and you get a special ability on top of that...” said Jaune, “Why can’t I be the one with the special powers...?”

“Well a strange thing happened...I was in a blue clock tower with a guy with a long nose and....uhh...” Ruby tried to explain it in a way that made sense, but Jaune and Weiss were more confused than anything, “Look I don’t know okay!”  
Ruby crosses her arms and pouted a bit, “If I knew how to explain it in a way that made sense I’d tell you!”

“Well in any case we have to find a way past this security system. Hitting it won’t get us anywhere”, Weiss said as she gave Jaune a cold stare.

“Hey I thought it’d work!” Jaune said in response to the look. It seems the door was listening because the door opened, Jaune then smiled, "Looks like it did work!"

Weiss shrugged it off and got in along with Ruby. The buttons didn't allow them to go down any further than the second floor, the door closed and the elevator descended slowly. Weiss folded her arms, she still couldn't believe what was happening, "Those dark creatures, they're called Shadows, right?"

"Yeah, Cardin called himself a shadow, that's probably what everything else in this world is called", said Jaune.

"What about those things you called a Persona? How did you even obtain that kind of power?"

"I awakened to my persona about a week ago", Ruby answered, "What I remember most is that I was afraid...or I was facing my greatest fear, then a voice called out to me."

"Yeah the same thing happened to me a few days ago...", Jaune added.

Weiss looked down, "Fear, hm?"

Suddenly they heard a high pitched screech from a speaker jolting everyone up, “So you made it this far? My guards must be doing a shitty job!”

“Very well, I’ll meet you beyond this path.”

“Wait he’s going to fight us head on now?” Jaune asked

“It might be a trap, so keep your guard up...” Ruby said

“I’ll stay back in case anything happens...which is what I’ve been doing this whole time...” Weiss looked down.

They made it down to the iron door and pushed it open, the room was dimly lit, probably because it was deeper inside the cave.

“Welcome!!” A voice said as a bunch of lights turned on all at once. It was Shadow Cardin sitting in a booth with Pyrrha chained to the wall behind him. He had a microphone in hand like this was some kind of sporting event.

“Jaune, you caught me off guard with your little display the other day, so I decided to put your power to the test. Should you and Ruby succeed, I’ll give you Pyrrha, no strings attached!!”

“What the hell!?” Jaune said

Some of the “inmates” were getting rowdy and excited like they were ready to see some bloodshed.

“Our first contestant, is one of my closest buddies, please welcome Dove Bronzewing!!”

The cheers got louder and louder.

Jaune was confused, “Wait, none of Cardin’s friends went missing, so why is he here?”

Dove looked the same as he did in the real world but he had on armor and wielded a sword. He even looked stronger than his real life counterpart. “Dove” readied himself to fight.

“Looks like we have to fight!” Ruby said bringing out her Naginata

“Y-yeah...but I don’t want to hurt him if he’s real...”, Jaune said as he drew his sword

“Take this!” Dove said as he attempted to Skewer them

Jaune ran in to counterattack, and he succeeded. He cut his back and a dark liquid gushed out, but it wasn’t blood, at least it didn’t look like it. Suddenly, “Dove” dissolved into a black substance before disappearing completely, then re-emerged as a Knight in grey-silver armor riding a horse.

“I think...I think they’re shadows taking the form of Cardin’s friends...” Ruby said

“That makes...no sense...but I feel less bad attacking them now.” Jaune said

“Persona!!” both of them said at the same time. Ruby used Jack Frost again and used Sonic Punch, the shadow was barely phased by it. The shadow retaliated by swinging its lance at her, she tried to block it but was knocked to the ground, “Change!”

This caused Jack Frost to be engulfed in a blue light and was replaced with Red Riding Hood. It immediately swung its large scythe at the shadow and though it was phased by the attack, it wasn’t enough to stagger it. The shadow retorted with another Skewer.

“Ruby, here!” Jaune said as he summoned his persona to try and support Ruby. She was surrounded by a purple light for a few seconds. “That should help your defense!”

He was right, the next attack from the Shadow didn’t do much damage to Ruby. This time she threw gust of Wind at the shadow. This did major damage to it.

“Wait...I see...Ruby!” Jaune shouted after observing the situation, “Use magical attacks! Physical attacks won’t work as well!”

Jaune couldn’t help much because his persona didn’t have any magic skills, but he could heal and support.

Ruby used another wind spell to knock down, then Jaune went for the killing blow with his Persona using Lunge. The attack was enough to finish it.

“Damn it! Well if you could handle one of them, how about 2?” Shadow Cardin said, “Sky! Russel!”

“Sky” and “Russel” leapt down in front of Ruby and Jaune. Weiss was worried, they struggled to take out one of them, how will they fair against 2 of them?

“Don’t waste your time, reveal your true form!”, Shadow Cardin commanded

Sky turned into a Tengu looking figure while Russel turned into a warrior Angel.

“It’s time we laid waste to you intruders” one of the shadows said

“You have sinned greatly against Lord Cardin, it’s time for you to atone”

“Hold on boys, let me help you out”, Shadow Cardin said as he stuck his hand out. Immediately there was a red light that surrounded them and closed in. Then there was a purple light that did the same. Ruby’s body felt heavier, but there were no immediate affects in Jaune.

“Wait, what happened!?” Jaune asked

The warrior angel shadow charged towards Jaune and swung its sword. He didn’t have time to move and he was hit. It hurt, but more than usual...almost like he was made more vulnerable. He struck back but he wasn’t doing much damage.

Ruby used another wind spell on the Tengu, but it blocked it.

“Chan—“, she tried to switch Personas but was attacked before she had a chance. She fell to her knees then fell flat on her face.

“Rub—!!” Jaune said as he was struck in the back of the head knocking him down as well and he couldn't get up. The Shadows defeated them as the crowd went wild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but don't worry the next chapter will be out soon.
> 
> Also Shadow Cardin used Marakunda (defense debuff) and Matarunda (attack power debuff) to weaken them before the shadows knocked them out


	8. No Way Out 2

There they lay, defeated by Cardin’s shadows. The inmates went wild and cheered, Shadow Cardin then picked up his microphone, “And there you have it!! The intruders have been defeated!!”

He then turned to Pyrrha who was still unconscious, “Hey wake up bitch!”, he slapped her to wake her up.

“See that?” He asked

Pyrrha woke up and was horrified at the sight of Ruby and Jaune laying face down on the ground.

“N...no....”, the redhead muttered out

Shadow Cardin let out a loud laugh, “Yes, take it in! This is what happens when you fuck with me!”

Weiss was terrified, she didn't want to be caught, but now Ruby and Jaune's lives were in danger. At this rate, they'll die. Then Pyrrha. Weiss began hyperventilating, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. For some reason she really wanted to go in there and help them, but she knew it wouldn’t do much. She couldn’t leave and call for help because no one would believe her. Even if they did, how would they fight Shadows?

“Why am I afraid? I don’t...care...about them...they...” Weiss whispered to herself, but she couldn't leave.

"Alright, take them out now!" Shadow Cardin ordered, this caused Weiss to leave her hiding place, "Hmm? Who's this?"

"Weiss! No!", Jaune yelled.

"L-Let them go!!", Weiss demanded.

Shadow Cardin smiled, "Or what? You can't do anything about it!". Unfortunately, he was right. "A new challenger! And it’s the heiress to the Schnee Diamond and Mining company, Weiss Schnee!”

"Weiss...just get out of here! W-we'll be fine, just save yourself!", Jaune said

"N...no! I won't leave you!", Weiss replied, "I CAN'T leave you guys!"

"Go ahead, save your own ass!", Cardin howled.

Weiss still didn't understand what was driving her, was it some kind of fear? If she lost Pyrrha, she'd be alone again, even if she doesn't care about Ruby or Jaune they could be her friends later. Ruby even tried being kind to her the other day, even though Weiss brushed her off. She then remembered how distant her family is, how some nights no one would be home, she had to eat by herself, slept in separate bedrooms from her siblings, her mother was barely involved in her life, and to top it all off her father was only interested in making her his puppet. If she lost Pyrrha, Ruby, and Jaune, she's going back to being alone. 

Listen to your inner voice...

“Wh-what was that!?” she asked out loud

_Stop denying your true feelings..._

“My...true feelings...?” she said, then paused, “I thought I only cared about Pyrrha...but that wasn’t completely honest.”

Weiss continued, “Really...I’m just afraid of being alone and...I’d be devastated if I lost any of them...”

“Ruby...Jaune...you guys treat me the same way Pyrrha has...even though you knew nothing about me...I...don’t know what I’d do without you guys...”

_Have you finally realized it?_

“Yes!” Weiss said confidently

_Then allow us to form a contract..._

Weiss felt an intense headache suddenly and she fell to her knees grasping at her head.

_I am thou, thou art I. You’ll never have to fear loneliness once you carve your path forward!!_

“I...hear your voice...” Weiss said as she stepped iforward.

“Weiss!? What are you doing!?” Jaune shouted

“Wait...something seems different about her..” Ruby said

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing”, Weiss said with conviction.

"Well if you’re in that rush to die, boys take her out!!”

Both shadows charged for her.

“Come forth! Snow White!!” Weiss said as she was engulfed in blue light. From this emerged a feminine figure wearing a long white dress and long sleeves, with ornaments of snowflakes on her waist, her skin color was icy blue and had long flowing white hair. “The fairest of them all, is she not?”

“Wow! That’s awesome!!”, Jaune said

“W-what!?” Cardin began to sweat as now there were 3 Persona users, but 2 of them were down, he could still win this, “guys! What are you doing!? Take her down!!”

Both shadows tried to close in on her, but they were stopped in place as they were frozen.

“Heh, not bad!” Ruby said as she made it her feet, “Let’s finish this!”

“We need back up! Hurry!!” Cardin shouted

2 more shadows showed up, both of them turned into burning tables.

“This shouldn’t be a problem! Snow White!!” Weiss said as she froze the shadows with ease, “Here, let me help you 2.”

Both Ruby and Jaune felt like the damage they sustained in the fight was being healed. They were ready to fight along side her. Since the enemies were frozen, they were easy picking. They both used physical attacks to shatter them in one strike.

All the shadows were gone, all that was left was Cardin.

“Cardin, now it’s your turn!” Weiss pointed at the place Cardin was, but realized he was gone and so was Pyrrha, “Wh-where did they go!?”

A shadow on the verge of death then said, “We distracted you guys long enough for Lord Cardin to escape!”, it then laughed as it disintegrated.

“Okay then let’s go—“ Weiss collapsed immediately.

Both Ruby and Jaune were left speechless, they just remembered the awakening a Persona drains the user, but it looks like Weiss’s body didn’t notice until now.

“Let’s retreat for the day...”

###### 

They met up at the train station after Jaune had to carry Weiss out of the Noctune.

“Well that was quite the experience”, Weiss said not wanting to acknowledge her exhaustion, “I never thought I’d have a power like this either.”

“Trust me, we both had the same reaction...” Jaune said

“I... don’t know what came over me in that moment...”, Weiss said, “I don’t really have that much attachment to you guys but...I...”

“You were afraid to be alone, right?” Ruby said

Weiss recoiled, “H-how did you know!?”

Ruby rubbed the back of her head as she spoke, “Well I heard the rumors...and you were a bit clingy with Pyrrha...it kind of reminded me of how I was with my sister”

“Did I make it that obvious?” Weiss looked down but she snapped back up when she remembered something, “Oh, right! Pyrrha!!”

“Hold on Weiss! We had to retreat because you were exhausted we can’t go back in there right now!” Jaune said

“We can’t leave her in a place like that!”

“I know”, Ruby said, “but we need to be prepared otherwise we’ll die too...”

“How do we know she’s safe?”

“Cardin probably won’t make a move until we get there, he wants to get both of them, and only if their both present.”

“How much time do we have?”

“That part...we aren’t to sure of...but it might be linked to those missing person reports we keep hearing about, the people usually show up dead after a month” Jaune explained

“I’ve heard about those, but it’s rare when the news actually reports it on TV, but a lot of smaller news outlets talk about them” Weiss said

That’s weird, if it’s a common occurrence, why isn’t anyone making a big deal out of it? Ruby thought to herself.

“In any case, I think we should go back as soon as possible” Weiss continued, “Even if they’re not connected to those disappearances, I don’t think we want to find out”

“Right, let’s go after school tomorrow!” Jaune confidently said, then he remembered something, “Oh yeah, let me have your number by the way!”

Weiss blushed then said, “Why do you need my phone number!?”

“Woah calm down! It’s just because we’re working together and...w-we need to stay in contact!”

“He’s right, it’s the best way for us to keep ourselves informed and up to date with each other”, Ruby added

Weiss let out a sigh, “Fine, but I swear if you try to hit on me I’m blocking your number!”

The 3 of them exchanged contact information. It was getting closer to curfew time, so Jaune and Ruby headed to their train line but Weiss didn’t follow. The short redhead noticed this and began to walk back to Weiss.

“Hey Jaune, go ahead without me, I have to do something”

“You sure about this Ruby? I heard they’re being more strict about curfew..”

“I know but this is important.”

“Okay then, I’ll see you when you get back.”

Ruby walked back towards Weiss. She looked at her weird.

“Why did you come back?” Weiss asked

“You’re not coming to the dorms?”

“I don’t live in the dorms, I live in North Vale with my older sister”

“Why’s that?”

“That’s a personal matter, something I don’t want to talk about here.”

_It probably has something to do with the SDMC..._

Weiss’s phone then buzzed, she looked at it and rolled her eyes, she seemed really annoyed.

“Uh oh, was it Jaune?”

“No...even worse...”

Even worse than Jaune...?

“Hey Ruby, that’s your name, right?”

Ruby nodded her head.

“I don’t know what it is but, I feel like I can trust you”, Weiss said, “I think after this is over with, I think I’d like to talk to you more”

I feel a faint bond forming between me and Weiss.

A blue light flashed in front Ruby again, it must be another Arcana being awakened.

“Do you want me to walk you home today?” Ruby asked.

“Thank you, but no, I think I can manage today”, Weiss answered

######  Evening - Clear Skies

Ruby made it back to the dorm just in time, however that didn’t stop her from being on the receiving end of Glynda’s warning. As Ruby fell asleep she felt more tired than usual again.

She awoke in the Velvet Room yet again.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room” Igor said

“It would seem that you’ve awakened to a new bond” Julius said as a tarot card representing the Empress lowered into his book, “You’ve awakened to The Empress Persona, should you need its power in the near future, we will be here to help you.”

###### 4/18 - Friday - Early Morning - Light Rain

The next morning, Ruby got up early and went with Yang to a nearby restaurant to get breakfast before heading to school. While she was eating her phone buzzed, it was Weiss in the new group chat.

W: We’re going in today, right?

J: That’s the plan, but we should make sure we’re ready

R: Let’s not be too hasty

W: Pyrrha is in danger!!

R: I know but our lives are on the line here too

“Hey Ruby”, Yang said from across the table, “You’re texting someone already? Looks like you’re making friends!”

“Yeah, something like that”, Ruby responded

I should probably focus on eating right now, and text them later

###### After School - Overcast

The 3 of them met up behind the school near the track, this could be their “hideout” for the time being. They tried to look as 'normal' as possible, Weiss was studying, Jaune was reading a comic book titled RvB: The Final Frontier, and Ruby was browsing her phone. Jaune used his baseball bag to hide his and Ruby's weapon, but Weiss had what looked like a case for an instrument. She opened it to reveal a very ornate rapier, it looked very expensive.

“I’m still curious, how did you guys discover that world?” Weiss asked

“Well, it was raining, we made a mad dash for the school and suddenly we were in front of this huge castle...” Jaune answered

“Actually, I had this app as soon as I came to Vale, I don’t remember installing it at all”, Ruby answered, "It was actually pretty scary the first time I used it..."

“I suppose there’s no rational explanation for any of this right now, let’s focus on saving Pyrrha first.” Weiss said.

"By the way, Weiss, where did you get that rapier?", Ruby asked, she couldn't help but admire its design.

"I used to fence when I was younger, my family really went all out when they picked it out for me...", Weiss answered, "Besides I'm glad I noticed you all had weapons the other day, I just knew I had to bring my own."

"In any case, we have until the end of the month to save Pyrrha", Ruby explained, "We don't have any time to waste!"

“Alright, let’s go!” Jaune said

They transitioned into the Nocturne and headed back into the prison area. When they got to the entrance, a blue door suddenly appeared, "Huh!?" Ruby was startled.

"Is something wrong Ruby?", Jaune asked.

"Don't you see that?", Ruby asked

"No....why?"

_They can't see it? ___

__Ruby then walked towards it, there was a flash of light, then she was again in the Velvet Room. "Welcome to the Velvet Room", Igor said, "My, it seems you have finally come here of your own accord"_ _

__"Remember; it is our duty to assist you on your journey", Julius said as he handed Ruby a key, "Please return here whenever you like."_ _

__As Ruby returned to the Nocturne, Jaune and Weiss looked at her confused._ _

__"What happened Ruby? You were just standing there", Jaune said_ _

__"You are so weird...", Weiss commented_ _

__"Uh...well a funny thing happened....", Ruby began but was interrupted._ _

__"It's okay Ruby, I'm sure you have your reasons. It's more important that we save Pyrrha."_ _

__After a while they found themselves back where they had the battle against Cardin’s “friends”, this time the cells were empty. They traveled down the hallway closest to the security booth to find an elevator that went further down._ _

“Didn’t he say they’re keeping Pyrrha in the lowest level? I think we should keep heading down” Jaune said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Well obviously!” Weiss snapped back

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“I-I know that, it’s just that...I wonder if that’ll be the last floor or not”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Well we won’t know until we check” Ruby said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They opened the elevator and went down, it traveled down slowly for a few minutes, then it abruptly stopped. The high pitched sound of an intercom came on.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“You think it’s going to be that easy!?” Cardin said in a challenging tone

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“You must be scared if you’re pulling cheap tactics like this”, Jaune said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Hahaha, nah I’d rather be rid of you pests before you become a problem for me”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“How is he going to attack us here? There’s no ways in—“ Weiss said until she gasped when she spotted a small door at the top, “Wait, that’s a door?”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

Both Ruby and Jaune looked at it. It looked to be an emergency exit.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“One of us should go up there and take a look...” Jaune said as both Ruby and Weiss looked at him, “W-wait...why me?”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“You are the tallest on here Jaune”, Ruby said like it was obvious that he should go.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“I agree” Weiss added

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Okay, fine...but you guys have to boost me up a little”, said Jaune

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

Ruby and Weiss helped him climb through the emergency exit at the top of the elevator, he left the hatch open in case he needed to tell them something at a moment’s notice. Jaune looked up the shaft to see a shadow with bolt cutters at the top trying to cut the wire.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Hey can’t you cut it faster!?” One of the shadows said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“It’s not as easy as it looks!!” The one with the bolt cutters said.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Umm, guys...we have a serious problem!!” Jaune said to the two girls below him.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“What’s going on?” Weiss asked

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“They’re trying to cut the line and drop us!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Jaune! Is there anything we can do to get out of here?” Ruby asked

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

He looked around frantically, he spotted an open air vent that looked just big enough for a person to squeeze through.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Up here! There’s a vent we can crawl through!!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“You have to help us out! We’re both too short!” Ruby said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They didn’t have time to waste, Jaune reached his hand down to help Weiss up first, then he got Ruby right after.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“You go in first, if I can’t fit, at least you two got to safety”, Jaune suggested

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

Ruby went in first, it was plenty of room for her, Weiss was next and she was a little hesitant. She took a deep breath and went in. 

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“I almost got it!” The shadow at the top said, the elevator starting to shake, this caused Jaune to basically jump in head first. He barely fit but he was safe.

As they moved forward, they heard a snap followed by a loud crash at the bottom of the floor.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Is everyone okay?” Ruby asked

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Ugh, I hate being in close spaces like this!” Weiss complained

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“It’s a little hard for me to move but I’m good” Jaune said.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They traveled for a few minutes until Weiss broke the silence, “Is there a way out of her, I’m starting to feel nauseous”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“It looks fine from here” Jaune said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“What are yo—“ Weiss turned red as she kicked Jaune in the face, “ARE YOU LOOKING UP MY SKIRT!!?”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“N-No! Tch-Ow!!” He winced in pain, "I wasn't"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll heal you when we get out of here", Weiss apologized for assuming the worst.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Wait guys! I see a light”, Ruby said. They made it to a part of the vent where there was more room, but they couldn’t stand, there Ruby was able to see Jaune with a red bruise that looked like a shoe print.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They looked down to see a toilet, this vent lead to a restroom. Ruby kicked it as hard as she could in the limited space. Thankfully it fell after a few strikes. They all descended and exited the bathroom. They opened the door to hear a bunch of footsteps going in the direction of the elevator. The shadows probably didn’t see them because the hallways were dimly lit. They walked up to the door way to see where the shadow was going.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Keep an eye on that door, if they survived we have to take them out!!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Heh, so he was prepared for us to survive that...” said Jaune.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Let’s keep going, we might be close to the lowest level!” Weiss said.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

The prison was starting to look more deteriorated and unkempt. There were dim lights lining the walls connected by electrical wiring, almost like a cave. The hallway was long, but they had to press on, Pyrrha could be just up ahead.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They made it to another elevator, and yet again it was locked.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

A high pitched noise came from an intercom, it was another message from Shadow Cardin.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“I commend you twerps for making it this far, and you’re pretty close to me and Pyrrha”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Why would he commend us? He’s failed to stop us”, Ruby said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“That must mean he has some trick up his sleeve” Weiss said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Ding ding ding!! You’re very perceptive, Schnee! Yes I do”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Well what is it!?” Jaune demanded to know

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

"The only way in here is with my credentials. I have all the keys and you need my permission to get through!", Shadow Cardin howled.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

This came as a surprise to all 3 of them, now the path to rescue Pyrrha is completely blocked off. This was beyond unfair, it was like moving the goal post when they're so close to scoring.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“What a cheap trick” Weiss said crossing her arms.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“That’s just like him, making situations impossible for someone while giving himself all the advantages”, Jaune said, “it’s just him on a power trip!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“I understand that, but how are we supposed to deal with it?”, Weiss asked

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“If he’s pulling out all the stops to win, we should too, even if it means bending the rules!” Ruby said.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They suddenly heard a group of shadows converging on their position.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“We got em!! Let’s take them out!!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

There were 4 of them, two well dressed hands who stood on their fingers, a pair of twins joined together by 3 iron bars, and one that looked like a mage covered in a robe that looked 2 giant hands. The 3 readied themselves for battle.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Oh right, Weiss this is your first real battle isn’t it?” Jaune asked, “Be careful okay?”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Hmph, you don’t need to tell me twice”, Weiss said with a smirk on her face as she summoned Snow White she was able to freeze all of the shadows with Mabufu, except the mage and set of twins. “Wait, what!?”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Red Riding Hood”, Ruby said as she attacked the mage. She tried to Cleave but this time something different happened she hit herself.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“King Arthur!!” Jaune said while his persona’s massive sword swung at the twins. This was their weaknesses, “Oh I see....Ruby! Weiss!! The shadows have different affinities!!

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“We’ve noticed!” Weiss said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Yeah, but that means we should approach new opponents differently, we should go for the ones we have an advantage over!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“So I shouldn’t be using Red Riding Hood...” Ruby said, another flash appeared in her head, her card changed from The Fool to The Empress, “Come, Senri!!”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

Her persona changed to a female figure wearing a white leopard patterned jacket, red trunks, a tail and appeared to have cat like features. Suddenly the mage was set on fire, from its Agi attack, which knocked it down. The hands had been knocked down already due to Weiss’s attack, the twins also were on the ground.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Our enemies are down! Let’s finish this!” Weiss said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They all rushed in and attacked with everything they had. All the shadows were defeated.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Okay, let’s look for a way down” Jaune said

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

Ruby was on her knee, she immediately felt better when a blue light surrounded her. It was Weiss.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Thank you, Weiss”

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Next time try not to be so reckless”, Weiss said pointing a finger at her

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

_Would it kill her to be nice?_

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

Ruby didn’t know it yet, but she felt like Weiss’s cold exterior wouldn’t be a problem if they hung out more. She probably still doesn’t fully trust them. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that, they had to find a way down and fast.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

They looked around the immediate area to find any possible way down.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Okay let’s think, there has to be a way down that Cardin overlooked” Jaune though out loud.

____

__

____

____

____

__

____

“Normally if someone is as cocky as he is now, there’s a chance that he’s bluffing.” Weiss added

____

__

____

__"We should look around for clues", Ruby suggested_ _

____

__

____

__They could talk to the prisoners, who technically weren’t real, but they could at least get a sense of what they can do. The first hallway to the right was very long, almost as long as the field at the school._ _

____

__

____

__Ruby approached the first inmate, “Hey if you don’t mind me asking, is there a way down to the bottom floor?”_ _

____

__

____

__“Huh, why do you need to know? ....I guess it’s none of my business, but I don’t know.”_ _

____

__

____

__They asked the first 10 inmates the same question, all of them said pretty much the same thing. That was until they met an inmate who said something different, "The guards are always complaining about the laundry room being so difficult to reach, and it always takes forever to get clean clothes..."_ _

____

__

____

__"Huh...that's just like Cardin in the real world", Jaune said shaking his head, "He doesn't wash his clothes very often..."_ _

____

__

____

__"Is there a way down?", Ruby asked_ _

____

__

____

__"I heard there's a chute that goes down to the laundry room", the inmate said "I can’t guarantee it’ll be a soft landing....”_ _

____

__

____

__“We’ll manage, we’re here to break our friend out”_ _

____

__

____

__“That’s very noble of you.”_ _

____

__

____

__Weiss then spoke, “If you don’t mind me asking, who are all the prisoners in here for?”_ _

____

__

____

__“Well I was bullied by Cardin all the way back in middle school, we went to separate high schools though, so it’s hard for him to keep tabs on me. If your friend is down there, they must’ve really pissed him off...”_ _

____

__

____

__“It’s not her fault...it’s mine. But then again, she did stand up for me more than she had to..” Jaune said_ _

____

__

____

__“Ah I see, that’s what happened. Well good luck, when you beat his ass, we’ll be free from this hellhole.”_ _

____

__

____

__“But you aren’t real though”, Weiss pointed out_ _

____

__

____

__“True, I am a shadow though, my real self won't be restrained by Cardin anymore...”_ _

____

__

____

__“What kind of place is this?” Jaune asked_ _

____

__

____

__“It doesn’t matter right now, we have to save Pyrrha first and foremost!” Ruby said_ _

____

__

____

__They found a room that appeared to be empty but had a opening, large enough for all three of them to fit in. Ruby decided to go first, a pretty gutsy move on her part. She went down feet first. She landed on a pile of sheets and prison jumpsuits. Jaune followed suit, however he didn’t say anything so Ruby quickly moved out the way as he landed on the pile, whereupon Weiss wasn’t too far behind and she landed on Jaune. This knocked the wind out of him, but thankfully Weiss wasn’t that heavy, so he wasn’t hurt too badly._ _

____

__

____

__The opened the door, this part was very poorly kept. There were brick walls lining the hallways with torches instead of electrical lights. It looked like an archaic castle prison. This was it, this had to be it. The title of the room read Solitary Confinement. All the cells were empty however. Beyond there was a large door and it said Disciplinary Room, probably the part of real life prison where the guards could get away with abusing the inmates. Pyrrha had to be beyond those doors._ _

____

__

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weiss's Persona Snow White  
> Skills: Bufu (Ice), Me Patra, Dia 
> 
> Strong against Ice, Weak to Fire
> 
> Ruby's Social Stats:
> 
> Knowledge: 2
> 
> Charm: 1
> 
> Courage: 1
> 
> Kindness: 1
> 
> Proficiency: 2


	9. The True Self

They opened it, they were greeted by a large empty room the ceiling was really far up, the walls and floor were made of concrete with a drain in the middle, at the end of the room was Pyrrha being held up by her wrists in cuffs. This was it, they have come so far, and their goal was right in front of them. Jaune took point, probably because he felt responsible and that he should be the one who had to rescue her. However, something felt off. There didn't appear to be any other shadows around, and oddly enough there was no Cardin. 

“Pyrrha!!”, Jaune said running towards her

"Something doesn't feel right", Ruby said as she and Weiss followed slowly behind.

Weiss then said, "I agree. This is a little too easy..."

The redhead struggled to open her eyes, she was dehydrated and starving, and could barely say anything.

“W......wait.....it...it...” Pyrrha muttered out

“Jaune! Pyrrha’s trying to tell us something!”, Ruby said but it was a little too late as Jaune was still running towards her.

“T.....rap.....”

Suddenly a shadow appeared, Jaune jumped back just in time as a large mace slammed the ground.

“Goddamn that bitch!! Always ruining my plans!!” A familiar voice said

“Cardin!” Jaune said, “Let Pyrrha go!”

“Hell no!” Shadow Cardin snapped back, “Besides, I run this prison, I can do whatever the hell I want!!”

“You’re so afraid of losing control over people you trap them in a prison!?” Weiss said, “How low can you fall?”

“I’m not afraid of losing shit!” Cardin said, “I just want these roaches to know their place!!”

“So why did you go after Pyrrha? Why not go after me?” asked Jaune

“She’s always there to protect your weak ass, so I decided she should take the most punishment!” Cardin said with a sinister smile on his face, “Besides I know it makes you feel extra terrible that the best athlete in the school has to protect the one least worthy of it.”

Weiss turned to Jaune, “Wait, what is he talking about?”

“Oh you didn’t hear?” Cardin said proudly, “This pussy faked his transcripts to get into Beacon!!”

Jaune noticeably flinched at the statement, he wasn’t proud of it.

Pyrrha’s eyes widened, “So...that’s why....”

Cardin turned to Pyrrha, and grabbed her chin aggressively, “How does it feel to know that he’s no better than me? That he doesn’t even deserve to be at Beacon, hmm?”

He let go to turn and face the trio.

Weiss didn’t know what to make of it, “Jaune is that true?”

“....yeah....” Jaune hesitated to say

Weiss took a deep breath, “I...don’t agree with your method, but that’s not what’s important now.”

“What!? You don’t care?” Shadow Cardin said

“It doesn’t matter to us right now!” Ruby said, “What matters most is that we save Pyrrha and stop you!”

“Stop me?” Cardin started emitting darkness from his body, then began laughing hysterically, they all reeled back as the stared at him. “You think it’ll be that easy!!?”

He began to grow in size, his muscle mass increased, he quickly outgrew his armor as it broke into pieces revealing a very muscular figure, then large red bird-like wings emerged from his back, his skin turned red as well. He then began to fly.

“Well let’s see how long you last against my true form!!” Cardin said as he flew directly into them, “I am Ziz the true form of Cardin’s shadow!!”

They all jumped to avoid his first attack, it created a strong wind that knocked them down. They all picked themselves up and readied their weapons. This was it, they had to take him down to rescue Pyrrha. 

“Persona!!” Ruby summoned Red Riding Hood who leapt up to clash with Shadow Cardin’s mace.

“Tch!! Pathetic!!”, Shadow Cardin then pushed Ruby’s Persona to the ground. He then dodged ice shards from Weiss, him flying in the air made it difficult to use ranged attacks.

_I need to move faster, otherwise I can’t land a hit!_

Jaune moved in to try and help Ruby, he summoned his persona to chase Shadow Cardin in an attempt to distract him. Meanwhile, Weiss healed Ruby after her initial assault. King Arthur tackled Cardin to bring him down to the ground, but the shadow head butted him in the face. This made Jaune woozy because he hadn’t taken a hard hit like that in a while. The shadow then slammed Jaune to the ground, then he raised his mace to finish him off. Ruby then casted Sukukaja on herself so she could move faster, Red Riding Hood charged in to strike the shadow tossing him into a wall. She then threw a tornado at him.

“You must be stupid or something!” Shadow Cardin said, he used his wings to create another wind tornado to counteract Ruby’s. It instantly canceled the attack out. However in the process this created a cloud of dust. “Did you really think that was going to work?”

“No”, Ruby said as she changed her persona to a cat woman with white hair, pale white skin, bright yellow eyes, and a black jumpsuit, “But I know how we’re going to beat you!”

“Is that so?”

“Nekomata!!”, Ruby said as he was hit with fire this time.

“AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!” Cardin screamed in agony as he was set on fire, he tried flying around to extinguish the flames, but to no avail. In fact the flames intensified because of the wind his wings were producing. Fire probably wasn't his weakness, but it was a suitable substitute.

On the other side of room, Jaune was still delirious and confused. Weiss slapped him lightly a few times.

“Come on Jaune! Ruby needs our help!” Weiss said to him

“Ohhh....uhhh....what was I doing again....?” Jaune seemed to be confused and forgetful.

“Persona!” Weiss said to summon Snow White, “Hey, is there anything I can do to help him?”

Snow White raised her hand, a light surrounded Jaune. He blinked a few times before coming to, he seemed to be back to normal now.

“Ah, so that’s Patra?” Weiss asked her persona, it then nodded back in to say ‘yes’.

“Damn it, that guy packs a punch...”, said Jaune as he stood up, “I have an idea...we need to ground him and then hit him with all we got...”

“What do you need me to do?”, asked Weiss

Ruby ran around dodging feathers that were on fire, maybe hitting him with Agi was a double edged sword.

“You’re going to pay for that you stupid kid!!”, Cardin yelled. Though the fire was hurting him, he managed to use it to his advantage. 

“Ruby!!” a voice cried out from afar, it was Jaune, “Switch to a persona that has ice skills, I’ll distract him!!”

“Got it! Jack Frost!!” Ruby said, it was the only persona she had that had ice skills. She then ran to his right.

Jaune then used Assault Dive to strike Cardin, thankfully it got his attention. Then a purple light closed in on him. Jaune remembered that this was the same technique he used to weaken him and Ruby last time they fought.

“Where you running to pussy!?” Cardin said trying to taunt Jaune as he flew over to him.

“I’m not running...” Jaune stood bracing for impact as Cardin flew in swinging his mace. Jaune clashed with him using his sword. The shadow winded up for another swing as Jaune narrowly dodged. They clashed their weapons several times, he was no sword fighter but in a life or death situation he had to learn fast. He could tell Cardin was going for the kill and the swings from his mace were heavy and relentless. The shadow went for an upwards slash knocking him off balance. that split second was all that was needed for him to go for a finishing blow that Jaune couldn't dodge.

“Then what are you doing!? Trying to sacrifice yourself for that bitch? You trying to redeem yourself through pain?”

“No...” Jaune said falling to his knee but still holding on, but just barely, one wrong move could spell the end for him.

"Wait a second...where did that brat go!? And the Schnee girl too!!?", the shadow spent too much time on Jaune he had forgotten about Ruby and Weiss. However they were nowhere to be found. Then his wings were slowly freezing, he couldn't move them to fly anymore. Soon they were frozen solid. Ruby and Weiss were on opposite sides using ice skills. King Arthur was also buffing their attack to do more damage too.

“I was distracting you so we can beat you...”

The wings then shattered, causing Cardin to wince in pain.

“Now!!” They all swarmed him and attacked with all they had. This caused a dust cloud and they jumped back. All three of them were panting in exhaustion.

“D...did we get him..?” Ruby asked

The dust cloud cleared, Shadow Cardin was heavily damaged, but he wasn’t done yet.

“Damn you to hell!!! I...I won’t go down that easy!!” He then swung his mace to pound the ground and used Rampage which hit them all hard.

“N....n...no...!” Ruby said as she hit the ground

Pyrrha was shocked, all their combined efforts weren’t enough? Does that mean they’re finished? Right when she found friends who cared for as a person than a athlete. This year she had hoped to finally have friends that wouldn’t put her on a pedestal, and now it’s about to be crushed right before her eyes. At the hands of a scumbag like Cardin...she couldn’t allow this to happen.

Pyrrha struggles to get out of her restraints, but to no avail. She didn’t want to lose them like this in such an unjust way.

_Do you wish to enact justice?_

“Yes!!”

_I see you’ve finally heard my voice...what you fear most is being the good person who does nothing...isn’t that right?_

“Yes..! Please give me the strength!”

_Very well_

Pyrrha suddenly got a headache and winced in pain, but she got a burst of strength, so much so that she broke the chains keeping her up. She took this opportunity to also break the handcuffs restraining her. She then began to scream in agony.

I am thou, thou art I, if you wish to have the strength to stop this injustice then call thy name!!

With that, Pyrrha was surrounded by a pillar of light. Everyone in the room turned towards her simultaneously. What emerged was a female figure wearing a robe that looked to be from Ancient Greece, a golden gorget, a golden tiara with a green gem in the middle, golden ankle bracelets, and wielded a short sword made of bronze. Pyrrha stood up, even though she was exhausted, she finally had the ability to fight with them.

“Thank you for helping me...Themis...” Pyrrha said as she turned to Cardin, “It’s time that you paid for all you’ve done!”

Two shards of light converged on him, that looked to be enough to finish him. However, Pyrrha also succumbed to her exhaustion and fell over.

“Did she just awaken her Persona?” Jaune asked, “That was awesome!!”

They ran over to check on both of them, Shadow Cardin was still breathing and conscious.

“That reminds me, where’s the real Cardin?” Weiss asked

“Cardin and I are one in the same...”

Everyone was shocked to see he was still able to speak.

“I.....I lost...”, the shadow muttered

“Please tell us where the real Cardin is” Ruby said

“You’re talking to him...like I said, we are one in the same...”

“What do you mean?”

Cardin got up to one knee, still tired from the battle, “I’m sorry Pyrrha...for dragging you into this...”

This came as a surprise, he was apologizing?

“I’m sorry too, Jaune...I was the real coward all along...”, Cardin said as he faced Jaune, “I never planned on telling any of the teachers about your faked transcripts. All I wanted to do was keep you under my thumb...”

“Why me specifically?” Jaune asked

“I remember there was a time where I was the bullied kid, but I never had anyone who protected me like you...I was picked on relentlessly” he said as he started crying, “I just wanted someone else to feel the same pain I did. I...I was afraid of my own powerlessness...I’m just some weak pathetic asshole...”

“It’s a viscous cycle...” Ruby added

“Well that still doesn’t answer the question; where is the real Cardin?” Weiss said

“I already answered your question...we became one...and now that I’ve been defeated...we will become separated again...” Cardin said as darkness surrounded his body and was being to crumble off. They all stared in awe at the sight. “My real self won’t remember what happened here, but I’ll be a different person...thanks to you all...”

Suddenly the ground began to crumble and shake.

“Uh guys....what’s happening!?” Jaune said looking around frantically.

“It looks like the whole place is about to fall apart!!” Weiss said

“Cardin, how do we get out of here!?” Ruby asked

“There...is an emergency escape through that door there...hurry...” the shadow said as it returned to Cardin’s normal self, but he was unconscious.

“Come on! Let’s go!!” Ruby said, “Jaune can you carry Cardin?”

Jaune let out an annoyed sigh, “Why do I have to do all the heavy lifting?”

“Now’s not the time for that!” Weiss said

“Tch...okay fine!” Jaune said as he hoisted Cardin to his shoulders.

They all made a break for it, though Pyrrha was lagging behind a bit. They climbed the stairs as fast as they could as rocks started to fall. After a few seconds of climbing the shaft, they found a platform. They made it to the top floor and kicked the door open now all they had to do was find the exit.

“Where did we come in?” Weiss asked, large rocks were falling, the prison could fall apart at any second, they couldn't stay still for too long.

“There!!” Jaune shouted while pointing at the elevator which linked to the strange castle. They all ran for it, Ruby bolted ahead pressing the button for up, thankfully the elevator was already there. Weiss entered followed by Jaune and Cardin.

“Where’s Pyrrha!?” Weiss asked

The tall redhead was a few meters behind and on the verge of collapsing, Ruby didn’t hesitate, she ran out the elevator to help her.

“Ruby!!” She heard Jaune behind her

Pyrrha tripped, but she was caught by a little red speedster. Together they ran for the doors which closed as soon as they made it through. Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.

“So...” Ruby said as she looked at Pyrrha with a little smirk on her face, “Like my skills?”

The tall redhead smiled softly, and giggled a bit. They made it to the top the door opened and they all exited. What happened next came as a surprise to everyone, the doors didn’t make a closing sound. They turned around and was greeted with a wall.

“The location has been deleted” the automated voice on Ruby’s phone said.

“Deleted is putting it lightly, it’s like it never existed..” Weiss said

Pyrrha turned to all of them, “Thank you all so much....I-“

“Pyrrha...I’m so sorry for lying to you...for pushing you away when all you were trying to do was help me...” Jaune said, “If you’re still mad at me I can tell the school what I did...and I’ll get what I deserve...”

“Jaune...” Pyrrha said as she walked over to him, “I don’t blame you for what happened, and in the end you did the right thing and helped me when I needed it most”

She hugged him to affirm that she accepted his apology and to thank him. Exhaustion took its toll on Pyrrha as she collapsed again.

“Let’s get them out of here”, Ruby said

They made it to the outside, and Ruby was ready to return to the real world. Weiss was helping Pyrrha stand, while Jaune laid Cardin against the wall.

“Still though I wonder why the school turns into a dark castle whenever we go to this world...” said Weiss

“That’s probably what we should find out next, especially since we now know that the disappearances are linked to this world...” said Jaune, “Anyway, let’s head back to our world”

The sun returned, the school returned to normal, they were back. The entrance to the school wasn’t very populated, so no one really noticed that 5 people just appeared out of nowhere.The question now is what do to do with Cardin? How will they explain Pyrrha going missing and coming back? They’re safe now, but how are they going to explain it in a way that makes sense?

“What do we do now? They’re saved but, how are we going to explain this?” Jaune asked

“We might have to fabricate a believable story...” suggested Weiss.

“That could work, but they’ll ask how we found them!”

“We found them and they’re safe, that’s all that matters...” Ruby said, "But I am worried about Pyrrha and Cardin..."

"They were in there for a very long time, we should make sure they're okay..." Weiss said, then she remembered something, “Isn’t there a hospital a few blocks away from here?”

"That's a good idea!", Ruby said

"Yeah, that seems to be the safest option", Jaune added.

###### 

About an hour passed and they checked both Pyrrha and Cardin into the hospital. After they stated that they were the missing students, police arrived shortly there after to question them. With Cardin still unconscious, the police had their focus primarily on Pyrrha. They asked her frequently how she left her room without anyone knowing. Pyrrha lied and said it was all a blur and she can’t remember what happened correctly, and it could be chocked up to a dream. They asked her to call them if she remembers anything later.

######  Evening - Cool Night

Ruby and Jaune finally returned to the dorm, and saw Glynda waiting like an impatient mother. No wonder she was picked to be the RA, she knows when kids are late coming back. But now they had to explain why they were late, word hasn’t gone out that Pyrrha and Cardin being found.

“Miss Rose, care to explain why your back so late?”, the tall woman said as she walked towards them, “You know you can be severely punished for this, right?”

She was scary, but Ruby had to find the courage to speak up.

“We...we found Pyrrha and Cardin...”, Ruby said. This caused a look of shock on the professor’s face. “We took them to the hospital, they looked to be in bad shape...”

“You found them? How?” Glynda asked not exactly believing her. There’s no way they can tell her about the Nocturne, but saying they were at the school wouldn’t make much sense either.

“We...found them nearby...they were unconscious...”

“I understand that part but—“ Glynda was cut off by her phone ringing, judging by her reaction to the caller ID, it was important, “Now?”

She answered it, “Yes sir?....They were found by the school?”

Jaune and Ruby looked at each other.

“I see.....well I’ll talk to you later...” she then hung up her phone, “Good news for you two, I was told to let you off the hook this time. It also seems you weren’t lying either... but I’m glad you’re all safe.”

She walked back to the reception desk allowing the two to go back to their rooms for the night.

_Who was that?_

While in Ruby’s room she was receiving messages from Weiss and Jaune.

W: I was able to stay with Pyrrha a little longer, the doctors aren’t finding anything wrong with her.

J: Is it the same with Cardin?

W: Yes

R: Glad everything turned out well

J: Yeah, but we should ask Pyrrha how she got into the other world tomorrow

W: Do you think she remembers everything?

J: There has to be something, anything will be fine

R: Okay, tomorrow after school then.

###### 4/19 - Saturday - Cloudy - After School 

They entered her hospital room, Pyrrha was okay all things considered. In fact the nurses told them she could be discharged today or tomorrow morning, all they need to do is give her one more physical and psychological evaluation just to make sure she’s okay. Once the nurse left, they decided to ask her.

“So Pyrrha, if you don’t mind us asking, how did you get in that world?” Jaune asked

Pyrrha looked down, “I don’t really know, all I remember was that I was talking to my mother and suddenly the line went dead. Next thing I noticed, everything electronic wouldn’t work, it was black as night outside...”

That’s just like how it was for Ruby and Jaune the first time.

“Did you have that strange app too?” Ruby asked

Pyrrha looked at her confused, “I’m sorry, but I don’t know...I don’t remember seeing any strange app that day...”

She then continued, “What I want to know is how you knew I was in there. They couldn’t find anything that would lead them to that other world.”

“It was kind of a lucky guess...” Ruby said, “And I found a report about people disappearing without a trace...”

“We were pretty much out of options, so it was a last ditch effort if you ask me...” Jaune said

Pyrrha chuckled at his words.

“There’s one more thing we should talk about though”, Ruby said, “Should we keep doing this? Going into the Nocturne, risking our lives and saving people when they go missing?”

The room went silent, “Come on guys, don’t be like that!”

Jaune was the first to speak up, “I think we all need time to think about this first. We’re definitely doing the right thing by saving people, but this stuff is dangerous...”

“I agree with Jaune for once, we barely survived what if we don’t next time?”, Weiss chimed in.

They all pondered for a few seconds. No one knew exactly what to say, they don't have to do this, as far as they know no one else they care about will be harmed. However that is a selfish position to take, maybe it was worth the risk.

“Well we don’t need to decide now, let’s meet up when Pyrrha’s discharged from the hospital” Ruby suggested.

"I hope I get out of here soon, track season starts on Tuesday...", Pyrrha said offhandedly. This caused Ruby to perk up, she couldn't wait for the season to begin.

"Oh! Oh! Where do I sign up?", she asked

"You just show up and talk to the coach, just make sure you're ready for the coach's...enthusiasm...", Pyrrha trailed off. 

A nurse knocked on the door and walked in, everyone looked at her, then she said, "Pyrrha, someone is here to see you. It's your mother."

"I guess it's time for us to leave", Weiss said, "We can come back tomorrow"

"Yeah, sounds good", Jaune said moving towards the door, Ruby and Weiss followed suit. They were then passed by an older short redhead wearing glasses, a brown turtleneck, a golden necklace with a cross, black pants and black dress shoes. She definitely looked like Pyrrha's mother. The older woman looked at them, and gave them a warm smile. It was a quiet way of saying 'Thank You'.

######  Evening - Partly Cloudy 

Weiss walked through the hallway of her apartment, or more specifically her sister's. It was modern and up to date, also expensive, but her family could afford 10 of them. It shouldn't be that special to her, but it is for some reason. Maybe it was because she could spend time with her sister, if she was there that is. Winter joined the Navy, before she gained enough seniority to choose where she was stationed, she was sent all over the world. During that time Weiss didn't have a choice but to stay in Atlas with her large but distant family. When she heard Winter got stationed at a Navy installation near Vale and would be living off base, she took the opportunity and applied to Beacon Academy. Her grades were good enough, she could definitely pay for it, at least it'd be a drop in the ocean for her father, all she had to do is convince him. He eventually agreed on the condition that she doesn't cause any problems for him. Actually he said family, but deep down they both knew the truth.

She opened the door to her apartment, where she saw Winter sitting at the dining room table on her laptop. This was rare because she usually stays late at her job. 

"Hello, Weiss, how was your day?", Winter asked very sternly, she didn't even look in Weiss' direction. Her eyes were glued to the laptop's screen. Weiss didn't know what to say.

"Hello Winter, my day was okay...", Weiss said sheepishly.

"I've noticed you've been coming home later as of late, is there anything going on?"

"No...just hanging out with friends, that's all..."

"Be careful, I've heard about students going missing at your school. If there is someone going around kidnapping people, they will probably-"

Weiss interjected, "Actually, they found them today!"

This caused Winter to take her eyes off the laptop screen, "Please don't interrupt me when I'm speaking, that's very rude."

"I'm sorry..."

"Anyway, it's good to hear that they've been found but my point still stands."

"Okay, I understand...", Weiss turned then quietly went to her room. It's still just like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha's Persona
> 
> Name: Themis
> 
> Arcana: Justice
> 
> Skills: Kouha, Single Shot, Dekunda, 
> 
> Strong against Light, Weak to Darkness/Curse


	10. The Path of Knowledge

###### ??/?? - ????

Ruby’s mind was hazy, and was slowly coming to. This was strange, she’s not in the Velvet Room this time, she was in what appeared to be an endless void of a night sky. She was standing on a structure of some kind, but couldn’t recognize it at all. There was a path before her, all she saw was a dim sphere of light, she walked towards it. The light seemed to be moving away from her, so Ruby decided to run towards it.

“You...”, a mysterious voice said, Ruby was undaunted she pursued it anyway, “Do you seek answers?”

She ignored the voice and continued to follow the light, “Your resolve is quite admirable....”

“Who are you?”, Ruby asked

“But worry not, you’ll fall short like all the others that came before you...”

“What do you mean?”

“Humans always revert to their old ways...do you know why?”, it sounded ominous, like it knew something Ruby didn’t, “They’re afraid...”

“I’m not scared!”, she said defiantly, “I don’t know what you are...but I won’t give up!”

“Interesting...”, the voice said, “Let’s see how long that resolve lasts...”. The figure was then engulfed in darkness, it looked like a creature that would only exist in a nightmare. This creature was just a mass of darkness creating a vortex of black, the sky was being engulfed and eaten away. It then rushed towards Ruby, she couldn’t dodge it so she covered her face with her forearms. It was terrifying, she saw nothing but darkness, all she wanted now was to wake up. She couldn't tell the difference between her eyes being closed or just staring at a pitch black void of nothingness. After a few seconds she got what she wanted as she woke up. She looked around to make sure she was in her room and not still dreaming. Taking a deep breath she looked at her clock, it said 4:37am.

_What was that?_

_Who was that? ....Why did it feel like the Nocturne?_

###### 4/20 - Sunday - Daytime - Sunny

Well the nightmare creature just had to wake Ruby up extremely early, it forced her to sleep until 11am. She still got up and got dressed, though she wasn't really sure what to do on a day off. They also had to wait until Pyrrha was discharged from the hospital before they did anything in the Nocturne. After getting dressed she headed towards the lobby. She saw a familiar face, the older girl known as Coco, but this time she was alone and looked bored. What does Ruby have to lose? Might as well try to make a new friend. She approached the upperclassman, who then pulled down her sunglasses with her finger.

"How's it going kid?", Coco asked. 

"Oh! Uh...hey!", Ruby said shyly. She wasn't really expecting Coco to initiate the conversation. Ruby then continued, "So, you have any plans for the day? Do you want to hang out at all?"

"Oh? You must think I'm really cool if you're trying to hang with me"

"Y-yeah, kind of..."

"I like you already! Come on, let's go!"

"Where to?"

"The mall of course! We need to try on new clothes!", Coco grabbed her hand excitedly.

"Wait I don't have money!"

"No problem! As your upperclassmen I'll take care of you!"

Ruby was being dragged along, she was slightly nervous, but excited at the same time. Mostly because she didn't know what to expect.

###### Vale Carpi Square Mall

The mall was packed today, but that didn't seem to be a problem for Coco. She took Ruby to a store and had her try on a different variety of clothes, for seemingly no reason. Though Ruby was hoping her expressions would make Coco explain why, but this didn't work. After about an hour, Ruby decided to ask, "Hey Coco, why did you take me here?"

"Oh I'm sorry! I always go with Velvet on weekends but she didn't feel like it today...", Coco said, it didn't sound too believable.

"But why am I the one trying on the clothes?"

"It's a little hobby of mine, I hope to be a fashion designer one day", Coco said adjusting her sunglasses, "And what's a fashion designer without their fashion model?"  
This caused Ruby to blush, she never thought of herself as a fashion model nor did she think she was that attractive. She didn't have the confidence of one either, this really isn't her strong suit. Coco would've better off with someone else like Pyrrha or Yang, at least that's what Ruby thought. 

"W-why me? I-I'm not the best choice for this..."

"No worries, looks don't matter to me. What matters most to me is uniqueness"

"Oh...wait, what!?"

"Your style is very unique. I like how you look like a edgy teenager yet you're a good kid and adorable to boot...", Coco said as her phone buzzed, she pulled it out and had a bit of a panicked look on her face, "Uuuh...so are you having fun? Do you want to stay a little longer?"

"Did something happen?", Ruby asked

"D-don't worry about it!" 

They stayed until the sun began to set.

###### Evening - Cool Night

They made it to the entrance of the dorm, then Coco turned to Ruby and said, "Play along, okay?"

_What does she mean by that?_

They opened the door and there were 3 students at the receptionist desk, one male with dark skin and red hair wearing a sleeveless red-orange shirt with brown jeans. The other one was really tall and muscular, had short black hair, and was wearing a white t-shirt with dark blue sweatpants. They were with Velvet, and they didn't look too pleased to see Coco. She walked up angrily to her, "Where were you!? You were supposed to run the reception desk today!"

"Oh was I? I thought it was Yatsuhashi's turn...", Coco responded

"That's BS and you know it!", Velvet snapped back.

"I do it next week Coco, it feels like you're lying...", the tall man said

"Well I forgot because....", Coco turned to Ruby, "this first year wanted me to show her around, as an upperclassman I had to help her, right Ruby?"

_......Should I play along?_

Ruby decided to help Coco, "Yes, she's telling the truth"

"You sure?", the redheaded upperclassman said, "We all know know Coco hates doing this on weekends."

"Oh, come on Fox!"

"You kind of admitted it...", Yatsuhashi said

Velvet sighed heavily, "Coco, you can't keep doing this. If Glynda finds out you'll be in deep trouble..."

"And we really can't keep coming up with excuses for you either...", Fox commented. Upon closer inspection, Ruby noticed Fox's eyes were glazed over, was he....blind? However that wasn't really her business, but it was interesting that he appeared to be blind and didn't make it obvious.

"I'm sorry, this will be the last time I skip okay?"

"You better not be lying!", Velvet said. The three of them left and went back to their respective rooms. 

Coco turned to Ruby, "Damn, it didn't work. But thanks for helping me, feel free to hang out any time. I feel like we'll get along just fine..."

A blue flash went off in Ruby's head, she must've formed a new bond.

###### 4/21 - Monday - Early Morning - Foggy

Ruby was waiting for the train when she was approached by Jaune who still looked sleepy, "Hey Ruby..."

"What's up?"

"I'm just really tired is all..."

"Any update on Pyrrha?"

"Oh! Uh...I haven't heard anything about her yet. But I did hear about Cardin, looks like he doesn't remember anything, like his Shadow said.", he paused, "Maybe we should ask Weiss when we get to school!"

###### Morning - Foggy

Oobleck was lecturing, "During the Hundred Years' war, France and England were at each other's throats like most other major European countries at the time. However if not for the war the decline of European Feudalism and traditional Chivalry. There was a Saint who participated in the war. Ruby!"

She picked herself up to listen to the question.

"Do you know who this Saint was?"

"It was St. Joan of Arc", Ruby answered.

"Not bad. Yes Joan of Arc was one of the Saints who fought in the war and definitely one of the most notable. Though at the time she would never be considered for sainthood. She was accused of Heresy which was a serious crime at the time, she was only canonized as a saint in the early 20th century. Now back to the lecture..."

_I got it right!_

###### Afternoon - Partly Cloudy

In between classes, Ruby approached Weiss.

"Hey Weiss!"

"Now's not the time to talk, we need to get to class", Weiss responded

"This is important though!", Ruby pleaded

"Fine, what is it?"

"Is Pyrrha being discharged today?"

"She came in late today, from what she told me the doctors said she was fine"

"That's good! So you guys will meet up with us after school?", the short redhead asked

"Yes. I'll have my answer too...", Weiss responded

###### After School - Sunny

In an undisclosed location in the outskirts of Vale, a group of people wearing masks were watching VNN's special report.

“Welcome back to Vale News Network, with your hosts Cyril Ian and Lisa Lavander”

“Good evening, our top story tonight is a follow up on the missing students from Beacon Academy. Police have confirmed that they have both been found and seem to be unharmed...”

“Hey Adam, isn’t that where....” a masked man said to tall young man wearing a mask to cover his eyes, red spiky hair, and wore a black outfit with an image of a wilting rose.

The man called Adam looked up and focused on the news.

###### West Vale Docks

Elsewhere in a seemingly abandoned warehouse near the water, a few well dressed gangsters huddled around a TV, behind them were 2 other people. One was tall and had bright orange hair, wore a bowler hat, a white coat, black pants and gloves and walked with a cane. The other person was sitting on top of a few crates. She was a very short young woman with 2 hair colors; pink and brown. In addition she was heterochromatic having pink and brown eyes. She wore a white jacket and apparently had a leotard underneath, accompanied by brown pants and knee high white boots.

"The students, who asked to remain anonymous, don't seem to have any recollection of the events of their disappearances. Though both didn't seem to be harmed in any way..."

“Hey! Would you turn that shit down!?” the redhead mobster yelled at them

“S-Sorry boss!”

Elswhere, in Vale's Central Square, a very large muscular man with shot dark brown hair and a beard, he was wearing a sweatshirt with his hood up, and black pants. He looked up to the large screen displaying the news, his eye twitched when they showed a picture of Ozpin, then he turned away.

“...Professor Ozpin declined an interview, but did say that Beacon will take the steps to keep the students safe...”

###### Schnee Diamond and Mining Company Headquarters - Atlas

In a skyscraper in Atlas, in the office of the SDMC CEO heard something that made him turn his TV up.

“We’re getting word from the city of Vale that the two missing students have been found. However many are calling into question why the police weren’t able to find them...”

“Tch! I told her Vale was dangerous!” the older man picked up his cell phone.

Also in Atlas, or more specifically the Academy, an older man with graying hair and a bushy mustache was grading papers with complex mathematical equations on it. He played the news on his phone, the story caused him to stop what he was doing.

"Authorities aren't sure if this is linked to the seemingly random disappearances, but they said they wouldn't rule out the possibility..."

###### Downtown Mistral

Finally, in Mistral, an older teen who was on her way to the dorms. She had dark hair, golden yellow eyes, the left eye was covered by her hair, and wore the standard Haven Academy uniform which consisted of a black jacket, white shirt, and gray checkered skirt, she had on black leggings underneath as well. She listened to the news playing on the on the TV display.

“The teens from Vale who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, have been found, though they seem not to remember what happened to them...”

She softly smiled before walking away from the TV display.

###### 

Back in Vale at the Union Station, Ruby, Jaune, Weiss and Pyrrha met up near the access way.

“It’s all over the news!” Jaune exclaimed

“This is really embarrassing...” Pyrrha said

“At least they’re not mentioning your name like they said...” Weiss said

“Even so, it’s pretty obvious who it was”

“It’ll probably blow over soon, that’s what always happens”, said Ruby, "Besides, no one outside of Beacon know...

“Anyway, why are we meeting here again?” Asked Jaune

“Have you we decided what we’re going to do?”

Pyrrha was the first to speak, “I’ve decided... to keep going, I want to know why the school transforms and if I have the power to make a difference I don’t think we really have a choice...”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...if we have this special power, we can help a lot of people with it, I feel we’re obligated to continue. I...I think we were meant to get this power...”

It was a powerful argument, but no one was sure if that was the right reason.

Weiss was the next one to speak up, “I’ve decided that...I’ll continue. You guys know that I’m a member of the ‘infamous’ Schnee family, if we go public about what we’re doing I can at least begin to repair my family’s reputation.”

They couldn’t tell the public now, no one would believe it.

Jaune then chimed in, “Honestly I owe you all a lot, and I’d feel terrible if you guys got hurt and I just sat on the sideline while you put yourselves in harms way. Besides, I gotta show why I belong here at Beacon. And maybe we'll be famous for discovering that world and rescuing people..?”

“So we’ve all decided?” Ruby asked, They all nodded their heads in agreement, “Aw yeah!! We’re a team!!”

“Wait if this is a team, we need a leader”, Weiss said

“Who do you think it should be?” asked Pyrrha, then Weiss looked at her, “N-no! I can’t lead. I just got my Persona, besides I’m not much of a leader or strategist...”

“Well then if no one else wants to do it I think I—“

“Definitely not you Jaune”

This surprised him, did she not believe in his ability?

“Actually”, Pyrrha said, “If I were to nominate someone...”

“Oh Pyrrha, I knew you were reading my mind”, Weiss said with a smile on her face.

“...It’d be Ruby”

This came as a surprise to Weiss.

“What!? Why her?”

“Well after what you all told me, she was the first to awaken to her Persona. And the way she didn’t hesitate to help me or anyone else. It’s her heart that drives her, that’s someone I’d trust with my life...”

“Y-yeah, I agree with Pyrrha” Jaune added, “And she can use more than one persona, she’s basically our trump card”

“Y-you can’t be serious!” Weiss said “we should at least put it to a vote!”

“Hate to disappoint you, but I think we already did...”

“Well as long as Ruby is okay with it” said Pyrrha looking towards her. Ruby was flustered, she didn’t really know what to say.

_Oh man, I’ve been appointed leader?_

__

_They’re trusting me with their lives..._

__

_But I-I have to believe in myself!!_

“I’ll do it!” Ruby answered.

“Well it’s decided! Our leader is Ruby!” Jaune said

Weiss had a salty expression on her face, she couldn’t believe they allowed someone like Ruby to be the leader. Sure she wasn’t the worst choice, but she needed to prove her worth. All her life she’s had everything she wanted, with a few exceptions, but nothing irritated her more than having things decided for her.

“What should we do first? Should we wait for someone to go missing again? Maybe we can investigate that strange castle?”, Jaune suggested.

“Well...I think we’ve done enough for today... let’s investigate the castle tomorrow”, Ruby said

“Yes it’s best to be prepared”, Pyrrha added, “Oh right let’s exchange contact info”

After that, they separated for the day, Pyrrha walked with Weiss home while Jaune and Ruby went back to the dorms.

###### Evening - Cool Night

While in her room, Ruby texted everyone.

R: Hey Weiss and Pyrrha, we usually have weapons to help us fight in the Nocturne, do you guys have any preferences?

P: I’m pretty good with spears and javelins, I can always borrow one from the athletic facility.

W: I thought you’d know that I’m a proficient fencer, I can always borrow one of my sister’s sabers.

R: You fence? That’s awesome!

J: I wouldn’t guessed you were into something like that Weiss

R: Okay then, we’ll meet after school tomorrow!

######  4/22 - Monday - Early Morning - Overcast

Ruby was on her phone waiting for the train when Weiss approached her. She gave her this icy glare, but Ruby was used to it by now.

“Oh good morning Weiss!”

Weiss didn’t respond immediately, “Good morning our supposed leader...”  
She then pointed at Ruby and said, “You better be on your A-game today. I want to see why they think you’re the best choice for leader...”

“Will do!”

“How can you stay so positive?”

###### After School - Overcast

They met at the back of the school, it was mostly empty, save for a few lurkers.

“Is everyone ready?” Ruby asked

Weiss was facing away from everyone, she was still not on board with Ruby as the leader.

“Weiss is everything okay?” Pyrrha asked

“Yes. I’m fine.” She responded.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Jaune said as Ruby activated the app.

They made their way to the front door, this was the first time Weiss and Pyrrha have been in, so Ruby and Jaune had to fill them in.

“We’ve only been in here once, all we can tell you is that it’s larger than the actual school even though it looks familiar at first.” Jaune explained

“We haven’t been much further than the upstairs hallway, but it seemed to keep going”, Ruby added

“Oh right, and it changes randomly so it’s easy to get lost...”

“So it’ll be best if we stuck together”, Pyrrha concluded

“I wonder how this place came to be...it is odd that the school is the only place that transforms”, Weiss thought out loud

“Well that’s what we’re here to find out”, Ruby said

“Then let’s not waste any more time”, she said rather coldly

“Oh Ruby! I may not be as versatile as you are but I can keep track of the Shadows’ weaknesses and tell you what our best course of action is.” Jaune said

“That’s a good idea Jaune, Thanks!”

“A leader should be do that on their own...” Weiss muttered.

They made it to the second floor, the scenery looked more and more strange than in the real world. It looked like the school was enveloped in a cave, stalactites were forming on the ceiling. 

“I wonder why it changes so much...” Pyrrha said

“Well if I had to guess maybe someone was playing around with demon summoning and the spirits took over and refuse to leave...”, Jaune said

“That...doesn’t make sense...”

"It...was just...a joke..."

"Oh I'm sorry! I don't really pick up on that stuff...heh..."

“Wait guys!” Ruby said pointing up ahead of them, “Shadows!”

“Let’s get the jump on it, that’ll give us an advantage”, said Jaune

“Got it!”

Ruby attacked its behind, the shadow separated into 4 different parts. 3 walking hands and one set of twins joined together by two bars, but they were colored differently than the ones they encountered in Cardin’s prison.

“Themis!!” Pyrrha said as she summoned her Persona, it then used Makouha to hit all of the shadows. While it did damage, it wasn’t their weakness.

“Okay, light based attacks aren’t their weakness! Try something else!” Jaune shouted

Weiss moves into position and summoned Snow White, “Persona!”, she then threw ice shards at the group killing all the hands at once.

“Hmph! Too easy!”

“Weiss! Look out!!”

She had forgotten about the 4th shadow and was about to get attacked for it. Until a giant scythe cut it in half before it could do so.

“Weiss are you okay?” Ruby asked to offering her hand to help Weiss up. She swatted it away and stood up on her own, Ruby reeled back. 

“I didn’t need your help...” she said angrily.

“Weiss, what’s wrong? Please tell me, we’re working together, right?”

“You know what’s wrong? You!”

“Me? What did I do?”

“Why do you get to be the leader? What’s so special about you?”

“Weiss we all agreed didn’t we? I promise to do my best...”

“Then prove it! Better yet, I’ll prove I don’t need your help!”, the white haired girl ran off after saying that.

“Wait Weiss!!”

Pyrrha facepalmed, “I was afraid she’d do something like this...”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked

“Yesterday she kept asking why I nominated you to be the leader, no matter what answer I gave she didn’t believe me..”

“Well let’s hurry up and find her before she—“ Jaune was cut off by a blood curdling scream. They all made a mad dash for the next floor, when they got up the stairs they saw Weiss surrounded by 3 shadows that looked like tables on fire. She was trying to fend them off herself, but to no avail. Eventually she was hit by a fire spell and was knocked down.

Ruby didn’t hesitate to run in, she changed her Arcana to The Magician, “Pyro Jack!!”

The shadow began casting another fire spell, but Ruby shielded Weiss. She flinched until she saw Ruby standing over her protecting her.

“Y-you okay Weiss?” Ruby said in a little bit of pain since Pyro Jack wasn’t immune to fire. Weiss looked at her wide eyed, even after she how treated her, she was still willing to put her life on the line for her. Ruby genuinely cared about everyone, and she probably wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

“King Arthur!!” Jaune said as he knocked the shadow down

Ruby stuck her hand out to help Weiss up, this time she accepted it and got up to her feet.

“I-I’m sorry Ruby...I was acting out of line and—“

“Don’t worry about it, you’re safe now, that’s all that matters”, Ruby said giving her a warm smile

“...Now I see...”

“Themis!!” Pyrrha used Single Shot on the 3rd shadow, “I’m sorry, but we could use your help!!”

“Weiss, you can take them all out, I know you can”, Ruby said as she picked up her Naginata

Weiss got a confident smirk on her face, “Can I?”

Ruby looked at her confused, “Can you?”

“Of course I can you dolt!! I was just making a sarcastic joke!”

“Oh right!”, Ruby ran to help Pyrrha and Jaune distract the Shadows giving Weiss a thumbs-up before focusing on them.

“I am Thou!!” Weiss said to summon Snow White, "I understand why...

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ruby made the shadows collide with each other, they were all together as one big target, "Now, Weiss!!" "It's not because you're smart or of your special powers...", Weiss cast an Ice spell. Ice shards were thrown at the shadows, causing them to freeze in place. Ruby then used Bash to shatter them all in one strike. "It's your heart...your compassion..."

“Good job everyone!” Ruby said, she ran over to Weiss to give her a high five, Weiss didn’t reciprocate at first but gave a smile and high-fived her back.

"Now I see why everyone trusts you", Weiss looked into Ruby's eyes, "You could've left me, but you didn't. You chose to be the more mature person, it seems I still have some growing up to do..."

"It's okay Weiss, I wasn't mad at you. We're friends, right?"

"Don't push your luck..."

Ruby's face dropped, but to her surprise Weiss continued, "And yes, we're friends AND teammates. And I'll be the best teammate possible." 

Ruby smiled, so did Pyrrha and Jaune. They advanced forward, further into the unknown, ready to face the challenges ahead. "I wish I had someone like you in my life earlier....", Weiss whispered to herself. Despite her newfound respect for Ruby, she didn't want to admit she was wrong, especially to Pyrrha. 

###### 

They traveled for what seemed to be an hour, they kept ascending floor after floor. The building was starting to look less and less like a school. 

“Hey guys, does the school have 5 floors?” Jaune asked.

“Beacon has a maximum of 3 floors, we’re in uncharted territory right now”, Pyrrha said.

Eventually they came up to a door, about 10 feet (3m) in front of it was a statue of a curvaceous female figure, nude in appearance, elf ears, long hair and covered in golden chains.

“That’s a nice statue, I wonder who made it...” Jaune said

“You better not be looking at it for perverted reasons..” Weiss said

“What!? Come on!!”

“That is odd though, why would they leave it here, no one would be able to appreciate it in a world very few people can access...” Pyrrha said

Ruby went to the door, and touched it, it made a flash.

“What was that!?”, exclaimed Jaune

Suddenly the statue began to move, the stone began coming off to reveal a blue woman with the same features as the statue.

“W-What is that thing!?” Weiss said.

The being looked around, she didn’t look too pleased to see them.

“Who are you? And why have you woken me from my slumber?”

“Honestly we could ask you the same thing...” Jaune chimed in.

“I am the Guardian of the Path of Knowledge, I am to destroy anyone who tries to enter!”

The blue spirit then thrust her chains to attack them. Pyrrha blocked it with her javelin, but it disarmed her. Weiss struck back with her saber, Jaune and Ruby opted to dodge it entirely. No one had any idea what was going on or why the being was hostile, but it looks like they have to fight, like it or not.

It then conjured a ball of purple energy and slammed it to the ground, no one was able to resist it. It was a non-elemental attack. They used the debris as cover, they needed a strategy and fast.

“Jaune did you notice anything we can use to our advantage?”, Ruby asked

“No not really...but I might be able to come up with something if I observe it a little longer...”, he answered

“Then that’s what we’ll do”, said Pyrrha, "Themis!!"

"I'll support you guys!", Weiss shouted

Themis swung her sword, the guardian parried it with her gold bracers, then the persona was surrounded by a vortex of orange chains. Then the chains struck Themis injecting it with some red substance. This caused Pyrrha to fall to the ground in pain. 

"Pyrrha! Are you okay!?", Ruby asked.

Pyrrha looked up and appeared to be extremely angry, she charged in without any regard for her own safety. That was out of character for Pyrrha, usually she only got angry when other people were getting bullied or treated unfairly. This was different, it was pure unadulterated wrath. This only made the fight easier for the guardian as Pyrrha could be read like a book. She used the chain to grab the redhead by her ankle and toss her across the room. 

"Something's wrong with Pyrrha!

"I noticed!", Weiss said as she ran to tend to Pyrrha. When she got to her, she got up and charged in even though she was hurt, "Stop! Pyrrha!!"

A light surrounded her head and she stopped, "Thanks Weiss!"

Ruby charged in first, she changed her Arcana to Justice, “Archangel!!”. The persona swung its sword striking the spirit’s chains. It then used the chains to wrap around it and tightened. This began to hurt her, “Change!”, changing her persona released its grip. Her Arcana switched to the Priestess, the persona took the form of a light blue skinned woman wearing a white leotard and blue skirt. "Apsaras!!" 

Then the guardian was surrounded by ice shards, and they closed in. This did quite a bit of damage. As she was stunned by this. Seeing this, Jaune got up from cover to tell them the plan.

“Ruby! You and Weiss focus on using spells, Pyrrha and I will distract her!”

“Okay!” Ruby said, “Weiss, you have any ideas?”

“What do you mean?” She asked

“We need to hit it with spells, but neither of ours is strong enough to do enough damage...”

Weiss thought for a second, “Red Riding Hood uses wind, right?”

“Yes”

“Good, I have an idea”

Pyrrha was knocked down by the guardian, and she was going to follow up with an Assault Dive. Jaune jumped in front, shielding her from the attack. Ever since he helped defeat Cardin, he's had more confidence. 

“Don’t worry Pyrrha, I’m a different person now!”

“My hero”, Pyrrha said almost swooning over him

The guardian was charging up for another non-elemental attack, they both got up to brace the attack. However they barely survived the firs one, they weren’t sure if they could survive the next.

Suddenly she was hit by gust of freezing wind, so much so that she was slowing down and wasn’t able to move. Pyrrha and Jaune looked over to see Red Riding Hood and Snow White working together.

“Woah! Awesome!” Said Jaune

“Come on let’s finish her off!!”, Pyrrha and Jaune attacked in unison as both their personae swung their sword, shattering the guardian. However it still remained in one piece, Ruby and Weiss ran in and readied themselves for another attack. 

It gave out a light chuckle, “Wonderful!”, It stretched like it had finally woken up after a long sleep. She was now smiling softly, she probably wasn’t going to attack them. “My apologies, it’s been awhile since I’ve had company” she said, “My name is Jinn, the Guardian of the Path of Knowledge, since you have shown me that you are formidable advisories, I’ll provide you with whatever knowledge you may seek."

“Amazing...” Pyrrha said

"So it's not going to attack us again?", Jaune said walking towards Jinn slowly, "Let's leave the questions to Ruby, I'm not really sure what to ask..."

"I wouldn't expect you to ask anything helpful", Weiss commented

"Weiss...that wasn't really necessary..."

Ruby decided to ask, “Are you a shadow?”

“Why yes, I am. I am a shadow that has inherited the knowledge of the collective unconscious. You may ask me any question, and I will provide an answer. However I have limitations, firstly I am unable to predict the future, second, I cannot answer questions of events that occurred before my creation. And lastly I can only answer 3 questions every Moon cycle.”

"Every moon cycle?", Pyrrha asked, "So once every full moon

“How many more guardians are there?” Ruby asked

“Including myself, four in total. Once you get through the Path of Knowledge, you’ll then encounter the Guardian of Creation, then the Guardian of Destruction, and lastly The Guardian of Choice.”

Jinn then continued, “You have one more question, use it wisely”

Ruby pondered for a second, they will have more opportunities later down the road, but what would be the most useful information now? She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them to look at Jinn, "How are people getting in here without the Nocturne app?"

The spirit's posture changed, she crossed her arms then placed one hand on her cheek, "That is an age old question, and I've been asked that for years. Unfortunately....I don't have an answer for you..."

"What...?", great they might not find out how to prevent people from being captured.

"However I will tell you that the shadows manifest in various locations, not just in this area. They're drawn to strong desires and fear, especially when the collective unconscious is afraid. But in rare occasions they're drawn to a single person with those qualities.", Jinn continued.

“So they don’t have to appear at the school, it was just a lucky coincidence that Cardin’s prison ended up being here...” said Jaune.

Ironically, even though Jinn answered their questions, the Nocturne and the disappearances are still a mystery. The only hints are strong desires and fear. In any case, they were out of questions, they'll have to wait for the next moon cycle.

“Please return any time you want, even if it’s not a question I’d love to talk with you”, Jinn said giving a flirty wink.

“I....think it’s best if we call it a day..” Ruby said

They collectively agreed to leave for the day.

###### 

At the train station, they met again to discuss the new information they found out. It is an ongoing issue, this might be bigger than they thought, did they bite off more than they could chew? There was a lot to think about. Even though Jinn told them the shadows are drawn to feelings of fear and desperation, it'd be difficult to tell who'd be next. 

“Strong desires? Desperation? Fear, huh?”, Jaune thought out loud, “There’s not really a tell for that, so we have to wait and see if someone else goes missing...”

“That seems to be the case”, said Pyrrha, “I wish there was a way to keep track of that before it’s too late...”

Weiss was in deep thought, she had an idea of who could have a strong desire, but there was no evidence.

“Weiss? Is something bothering you?” asked Ruby.

“Oh...it’s nothing...” Weiss responded, “Anyway I think it’s best if we lay low for now, we really don’t want anyone to find out about that world or what we’re doing.”

“Yeah...it’ll be tough for me to not mention this around Yang...”

“So basically we have to act like normal students for now?” asked Jaune

“Seems like it”, Pyrrha responded, “Ah! I just remembered something. Ruby, track season starts next week I know you’re looking forward to it.”

“Oh I can’t wait!!”, Ruby said enthusiastically. While they did learn of the difficult journey ahead, it wasn't going to stop them from enjoying their time in high school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jinn  
> Arcana: Empress  
> Skills: Assault Dive, Megido, Crazy Chain, Tarukaja, Mind Charge (Concentrate)  
> Weakness: ????
> 
> Also, now that I'm 10 chapters in, how are you guys enjoying the story so far? Anything you think I could do better? Let me know.


	11. Fear and Trust

###### 4/22 -> 5/1- Wednesday - Early Morning - Sunny

About a week passed since the incident in the Nocturne, in the meantime Ruby and her new friends were trying their best to live a normal student life. Who would've thought that her first month of high school would be so eventful? Ruby herself certainly didn't. The stage is set to be one of the most interesting year of high school ever. She wasn't alone either, she had befriended one of the best athletes in the school, the heiress to one of the biggest companies in the country, and Jaune. They were in this together, a team, and she was entrusted to lead them. But of course, school comes first, saving people from an impending doom is secondary. Who in their right mind would believe that such a world exists? Very few, and they'd be considered insane. So Ruby has to keep the guise of an honest student, because no teacher will believe that she couldn't do her homework because she had to save someone from a world that will kill them if they stay their too long. Nor will they believe the school turns into a castle full of monsters.

Ruby definitely couldn't tell Yang or her father about it, they'd force her to stop using the Nocturne for sure. Yang had been fairly protective of her, but not to the point where she was monitoring her 24/7. The same could be said about her father too. But the last thing they wanted was for her to be willingly putting herself in danger. At the same time, Yang deserves to know because Ruby knew how devastated she'd be if she died in that world. She decided that if she was caught by Yang, she'll tell her everything. It wasn't worth lying to her older sister, though the others may not agree with her. Hopefully, it won't ever come to that. She was walking to school with Blake and Yang this morning, though she was lagging a bit behind.

"Hey Ruby!", Yang said, "Midterms are coming up in a few weeks, have you been studying and doing your homework?"

"Yeah", Ruby answered

"That's an odd question from you...", Blake commented, "You're probably the least studious person I know"

"Oh come on Blake! I'm not that bad", Yang snapped back, she then turned to Ruby, "Club and sports teams open today, you plan on joining one?"

"Of course! I can't wait to join the track team!", Ruby gushed, "Oh! It'll be so much fun!!"

"Someone is excited...", Blake said

"You should think about joining a cub too", Yang suggested, "It won't hurt to try something new."

_She's right, I shouldn't be afraid to do something new_

###### Morning - Sunny

In the office of Professor Ozpin, he was on the phone with someone else on the other line.

“Leonardo, I’m not saying it’s a problem now, but if you notice anything out of the ordinary please tell me as soon as possible”, the old man said

“I understand that, but please understand that I have other more pressing issues going on at Haven too. I can’t justify using school resources to help look into it, I have to do all of that on my own.”, Leonardo said, “Now if you’ll excuse me I have to tend to one of my students. I’ll speak to you later.” The phone was then hung up.

Ozpin took a deep breath, “Ironwood, Theodore...please don’t let me down...”

###### After School - Sunny

Ruby walked with Pyrrha to the track locker room to meet the coach, it was a formality to introduce new athletes to the coaches.

"The coach should be through that door, she should be waiting for you", Pyrrha said as she pointed it out to Ruby, "I told her about you. I'll meet you outside on the track!"

Ruby walked through the door to see woman with a bob haircut, wore a red and black track jacket and a pair of black leggings. She looked quite young, almost like she was in her early 30s.

“Welcome! You’re here to join the girls track team?”, the coach asked. Ruby nodded her head. “Well I’m excited to see what you got, Pyrrha has told me about you. My name is Erin Vermilion, but you'll refer to me as coach Vermilion from now on, okay?"

“I’m pleased to meet you”, Ruby stuck her hand out, the coach shook back.

“Now that we’re done with introductions, get changed, and head to the track, we’re going to see how you compare to everyone else.”

Ruby wore a pair of black and red shorts, and a sleeveless white hoodie, her track shoes were also colored black and adorned with red stripes on the side. She was then joined by the rest of the girls team. The boys were already out before them, they were coached by Professor Oobleck, that must’ve been a nightmare. Ruby then saw Pyrrha who she ran up to, she didn’t want to be the one person not talking to someone. They talked about nothing in particular, but Ruby did ask about the javelin a lot, for some reason it piqued her interest.

“So what’s coach Vermilion like?” Ruby asked, this caused Pyrrha to take a deep breath and smile.

“Well she’s like a less strict Glynda...with a little dash of Oobleck.” Pyrrha said this to give Ruby an idea of what she was in for.

They heard a whistle, “Okay ladies! Give me 3 laps and start the warmups!! If you’re only in field events give me one and head over with the boys.”

After they were done stretching and warming up, they gathered at the starting line of the track. “Today we’ll be recording your times for the 100m dash, 200, 300, and 400. Depending on how you do you’ll be on the Junior Varsity or Varsity. Everyone gets 3 tries for each event. And don’t count on your performances from last year to carry you, you all have a fresh start.”

“Well good luck Ruby, do your best!” Pyrrha encouraged Ruby.

After a few minutes, It was finally Ruby’s turn to run. All eyes were on her, especially since Pyrrha spoke so highly of her abilities. Her and 7 other runners lined up, the coach was on the other end of the 100 meter dash area. One of the track team members stood on the field next to them to clap as a way to simulate the sound of a starting pistol.

“On your marks.......get set..........GO!!” The clapping noise soon followed. Ruby ran as fast as she could, she only had one goal: the finish line.

“Hmmm...not bad!”, she heard as she zoomed past coach Vermilion. Ruby looked past her to see the others weren’t too close to her at all, some were just finishing. “11.35 seconds! That’s really good Ruby!”

This surprised her, she wasn’t expecting to do so well, in fact she didn’t even think she’d come in 1st.

“That’s better than even Pyrrha’s time.” She then walked up to Ruby, “Then it’s settled, you’ll be on the varsity team for 100m dash and the 4x100”

She was being placed on the varsity team already, that was much better than expected.

“That was better than Pyrrha? I wonder if she’ll be able to beat Harriet Bree from Atlas?” One of her teammates said.

“Ruby has potential, but I don’t think she’s on Harriet’s level yet...”

_Who is Harriet Bree?_

_....I guess it doesn’t matter right now..._

Practice continued for a few more hours, then Coach Vermilion allowed them to go home. Before Ruby left, the coach called for her, “First off, nice performance today, second if you can’t make it to practice some days don’t sweat it. However do not miss too many and you have to show up to all meets.”

She then pulled out a flyer that was advertising the Vytal Track Invitational, it was a yearly invite that happens between all Vytal Conference teams. In fact every sport had a tournament like this annually. It’s a way for all the schools to come together and compete against each other. The winner of the most of the tournaments would receive the Vytal All-Sports Trophy. “Don’t forget about this event! It’s the biggest meet of the year, and it’s just as important as regionals, and state.”

“Okay, I won’t miss it”, as Ruby turned to leave, she pulled out her phone to call Yang. She was disappointed when her older sister didn’t pick up, so she did the next best thing: call her dad.

“Hey dad!”

“What’s up Ruby? Did something happen? Is it an emergency!?”

“No no! I have incredible news!!”

“What happened?”

“I MADE VARSITY TRACK!!”

“Woah!! That’s my girl!! So I take it everything at Beacon is going good, right?”

“Yes dad, I was so nervous but I’m having such a great time!!”

“That’s good to hear! Okay I have to get back to work, say hi to Yang for me alright?”

“Love you dad!”

Taiyang Xiao Long took care of 2 daughters on his own, he worked as a teacher and coach at Signal. He hung up his phone and sighed, “I just hope she hasn’t gone down the same path as her mother....should I ask Qrow to look into it for me?”

He picked up his phone, he tapped the screen to call his old friend and brother-in-law (kind of).

“Hey Qrow, how has it been?”, he paused to look at a photograph, then continued, “Yeah....yeah...hey can ask a favor from you? I need you to look into something for me...”

######  5/2 - Thursday - Afternoon- Raining 

Ruby entered her last class for the day, this one was with Glynda, so she definitely didn’t want to be late. As expected the tall woman was already at the front of the class waiting for everyone to be seated. Something different happened though, as soon as Glynda saw Ruby she walked towards her.

“Ruby”, she said sternly

“Y-yes, Professor Goodwitch?”, Ruby was still quite intimidated by the older woman’s stature. She really hoped she wasn’t trouble, or had any missing assignments.

“The Headmaster would like to see you after school, he’ll be in his office. And don’t worry, Ms. Rose, as far as I know you’re not in trouble”, she said adjusting her reading glasses, “Now hurry and take your seat.”

After School

The last bell rung, where them Ruby remembered she had to talk the the Headmaster of the school. She headed to second floor, where she made it to the main office. This lead to a hallway full of offices, the one at the end belonged to the Headmaster. The door had a window with blinds which were closed, Ruby then opened it and peeked around the corner to see an old man writing on a notepad. He looked up and smiled when he noticed the young girl.

“Ah, Ms. Rose! Please come in.”, he said rather happily. She entered slowly into the room which was lined with textbooks and other books she wouldn’t dream of reading herself. “Go on, take a seat”

Ruby sat down on the nearest chair, still a bit nervous because she didn’t know why she was called to his office.

“So, are you enjoying your time at Beacon thus far?”, the old man asked.

“Yeah, it’s been pretty good so far...”, Ruby answered.

“That’s wonderful to hear”, he paused and looked to his left, “You’re probably wondering why I called you here to my office. Well it’s a matter of great importance and very confidential...”

Ruby’s heart began racing, he couldn’t possibly know about that other world, right? Is he going to interrogate her? She was thinking of all possible scenarios, and didn’t know what to do.

“Calm down, I’m not here to yell at you or anything”, Ozpin assured her, “But I do know quite a bit about that Other World”

“I’m sorry!! I—wait what!?”, Ruby scrambled to say.

“Yes, I know about the Nocturne and that only certain people can access the world”

“H-How long have you known!?”

“A few decades now, actually.”

“It’s been around that long?”

“As long as I have been headmaster of this school, I’ve seen students who’ve gained access to that world and others who have used it for...other purposes, once in a while we get those who have the ability to summon a Persona.”

Ozpin knew the entire time?

“Why are you telling me now? Why didn’t you say anything when Pyrrha and Cardin went missing?”, Ruby asked.

“I wanted to see how you’d use that power, I just wanted to be sure you were using it for the right reasons. Something just told me you’d succeed.”

“So basically it was a gamble?”

“Correct!”, Ozpin said with a smile

“You know they could’ve died right?”, Ruby said flatly, did he not understand the gravity of the situation.

“That was a bad attempt at humor, I’m sorry”, Ozpin apologized, “However if you didn’t figure out where they were, I would’ve told you.”

Now that Ruby thought about it, the only reason they found out Cardin and Pyrrha were in the Nocturne was pretty much a gamble too. Especially since they disappeared without a trace.

“Please tell me, which one got taken into the Nocturne first?”, Ozpin asked

“I think it was Cardin, he was the one who turned into a Shadow...”, Ruby answered

“I see. I’ll have him undergo some counseling once he’s been medically cleared to return to school.”

“Why’s that?”

“From what I understand, those who go missing show a strong distorted desire and are willing to do anything to obtain or maintain them. Added on by the negative emotions such as fear, anger, or jealousy their chances of being brought into the Nocturne against their will increases.”

“Distorted desires? Negative emotions? That could be anyone!”, Ruby said worriedly

“Actually not quite, they have a very very strong desire. To the point where they aren’t themselves anymore”, Ozpin paused and looked out the window, “Have you ever been so afraid that nothing else matters to you anymore? When you feel like you’re on the verge of losing everything, or something irreplaceable? We all experience this at some point in our lives. It’s at that point, when a person is most vulnerable, that whatever is in there takes the opportunity to strike.”

“Is there something controlling the shadows?”, Ruby asked

“That I’m unaware of”, Ozpin answered, “But I wouldn’t be too surprised if there was something or someone controlling them.”

Ruby then remembered something, “Why does the school turn into a giant castle? That looks like where the shadows come from.”

“Again I’m...not too sure what happened here in the past, all I know is that there was some kind of research going on here a long time ago”, Ozpin said, “Ah right, there’s another reason why I called you in here”

“What is it?”

“First, I’d like for you to look into something for me, I don’t have to ability to enter that world, so I cannot do it myself. I want you to find Leonardo Lionheart’s Shadow and ask him if there are any other persona users”, Ozpin said

“Leonardo Lionheart? Who’s that?”

“The headmaster of Haven Academy in Mistral”

“Why him?”

“Truth be told, all the other headmasters of the Vytal region know about the Nocturne. Persona users aren’t limited to Beacon students, so I ask that they let me know if a student has a Persona or not. Out of all of them, he has been the most suspicious so far.”, he paused to take a sip of coffee, “This isn’t urgent, but please make it a priority”

“Wait a sec, he hasn’t gone missing, right? How would I talk to his shadow?”, Ruby asked. This didn’t fit the pattern she was given.

“Ah yes, I forgot to explain. You interact with anyone’s shadow as long as they don’t have a Persona”

“Wait I’m lost...this makes no sense!”, Ruby said putting her hands on her head.

“The Nocturne is simply the collective unconscious, everyone’s shadow exists in that world. The difference is that they haven’t merged with their real world counterparts. You can’t see your own shadow because you have a Persona.”

“So my Persona is a shadow?”, Ruby asked to clear up any confusion.

“Yes”, Ozpin answered, this made Ruby calm down a bit, “Secondly, I want you to be weary of other Persona users, not all of them will be friendly.”

“Okay, you want me to look into Leonardo Lionheart? Got it”, Ruby turned to exit the room.

“One more thing!”, Ozpin said to Ruby making her stop.

What else can this old man tell me?

“Please be careful with Lionheart’s shadow, if you kill him he will undergo a mental shutdown which might kill him in the real world”, the professor said ominously, “Now run along, I have a lot of faith in you Ruby”

Suddenly a blue flash went off in Ruby’s head, another bond?

###### 

It was still raining hard, track practice was definitely canceled, but Ruby didn't want to go home just yet so she went to the library to study. On her way there she recalled that Ozpin pretty much said what Jinn told them a few weeks ago. How did he know all this? Did he know of Jinn's existence? Anything is possible considering that he already knew of the other world. He also asked her to look into the headmaster of another school, which is strange, Ozpin must think he's hiding something. How many people know about Nocturne? And there might be other Persona-users besides her and her friends. She has to tell everyone else later.

###### 5/3 - Friday - After School - Overcast

Ruby called everyone to the courtyard and explained everything that just happened. All of them were surprised to hear that Ozpin knew about it for such a long time. It seems they were dealing with a bigger problem than they thought. Jaune was sad, his dreams of becoming famous for discovering and saving people were dashed, but he shook it off after a few minutes of silence.

"Well..uh...I need something to drink, you guys want anything?", Jaune asked everyone. The girls shook their head all around. "Okay be right back..."

“So let me get this straight, Ozpin the principal, knew that you could enter that other world all along?”, Weiss said, “I’m not sure what to think of him....”

"Especially since my life was on the line...", Pyrrha added, this made everyone go quiet. Jaune returned with a soda in hand and opened it. He then noticed how quiet everyone was.

"A-Anyway, what was that he wanted us to look into?", Jaune said breaking the silence, "into Leonardo Lionheart? He’s the headmaster of Haven Academy, right?”

“Oh right, what does he have to do with this?”

“Apparently all the other headmasters know of the Nocturne and there could be other Persona users in at the other schools”, Ruby explained.

“That’s what scares me the most”, Weiss said, “Anyone around us could be a Persona user and we don’t know...”

Jaune laughed softly, “Reminds me of an anime I watch all the time...”

“So how are we supposed to find his shadow?”, Pyrrha asked. Ruby then pulled out her phone to access the app, it actually had a search bar and a microphone so someone could search with their voice. “Hmm, let me see Ruby...”.

She handed the tall girl her phone, she then said, “Leonardo Lionheart”

“205,789 results found”, the voice from the phone said

Jaune spat out his drink, “What the hell!!?”

“How gross can you be Jaune?” Weiss commented

“That’s not right, it’ll take us forever to narrow it down to the right one”, Pyrrha said.

“Maybe we have to be specific about it?”, Weiss said

Pyrrha then spoke into the phone again, “Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy in Mistral”

“1 result found”, the phone responded.

“Hmph, what would you all do without me?”, Weiss said rather confidently.

“Access point; Haven Academy. You are currently 35 miles from your destination.”

“Wait, we actually have to go to Haven Academy?”, Jaune asked

“That seems to be the case”, Pyrrha said as she handed Ruby’s phone back to her, “Do you think we should go today or wait until tomorrow?”

“It’s pretty late already, let’s head there tomorrow.”

“Hold on, have any of you been to the city of Mistral? Or even Haven?”, Weiss asked

“I haven’t”, Ruby answered.

“I have family in Mistral, well more specifically, Argus”, Jaune said, “I haven’t been there for a few years actually...”

Pyrrha then said, “I grew up in Argus, I had to go to Mistral quite often to go to Sanctum”

“Okay, we’ll count on you to guide us there Pyrrha”, Ruby said pumping her first

###### Evening - Cloudy

Ruby entered the dorm and was once again greeted by Glynda, “Welcome back Ms. Rose. I have to inform you that curfew has been extended, so you can leave at night. But don’t get in trouble and be back at a decent hour, okay? I really hope you don’t follow in your sister’s footsteps...”

Ruby felt inclined to ask, but maybe this wasn’t the best time. But this was great, now she can leave to experience the nightlife of Vale. Well at least as much as someone her age could. She decided to get changed into some more comfortable clothes and go for a little stroll.

Since it was a weekday, the streets were mostly empty, but the shops were still open. The coffee shop in particular caught her eye, it still had an ad for a part-timer. Ruby wanted to improve her social skills, and serving random people will do just that. So she walked into the store and walked up to the counter.

“Hello, may I take your order?”, the cashier greeted her.

“Actually I’m interested in that part time position, are you guys still hiring?”, Ruby asked

“Oh, you’re interested? Give me a second to get the manager.”, the cashier was very polite and charming.

The manager was a short older man with a bushy beard and short black hair , “Good evening, my name is Xanadu Yamato, I was told you were interested in the part time position?”

Ruby looked at the name-tag of the cashier, her name was Akina Yamato, were they related?

“Oh right! This is my daughter, she helps out here from time to time”, Xanadu explained, “In fact the reason why I’m looking for extra help is because she wants to go out more...”

She lightly elbowed him, “Dad!”

“Right, right, sorry...I meant to leave that part out...”, the old man said, “You look pretty young, are you still in high school?”

“Yes, I go to Beacon”, Ruby answered

“Why do you look familiar? I feel like I’ve seen you before...”

“I did come in a few weeks ago...”

“No...no...I feel like it was longer than that...”, he then shrugged his shoulders, “Ah I guess it’s not that important....”

His daughter then spoke up, “There’s quite a few students from Beacon that come here pretty often. Even one of the teachers...”

“Do you know who it is?”, Ruby asked out of curiosity.

“No, but she’s tall and has blonde hair, she looks like she could use a friend...”

“Or maybe a husband...”, Xanadu joked

“Dad! That’s so mean!”

They all laughed a little.

“Anyway when can you start? What time do you want to work?”

“I’d like to work evenings, if possible”, Ruby answered.

“That works quite nicely, just let us know when you want to come in okay?”

“Got it!”, Ruby said enthusiastically, “Oh right, can I have one of the big chocolate chip cookies?”

“Coming right up.”

Ruby turned in for the night, and went to sleep. She needed all her energy for the trip to Mistral tomorrow.

###### 5/4 - Saturday - After School - Muggy

They met at the train station preparing to depart to Mistral. Haven Academy to be more specific. Who would’ve thought that Ruby would be visiting another school for such a strange reason. They had to pay out of pocket to go to Mistral as it wasn’t one of the stops on their public transportation passes. The train ride shouldn't take that long, depending on how busy the lines were. For some reason, they were getting strange looks from some people.

“So what do we do when we get there?”, Weiss asked

“I think it’s best if we keep a low profile, we already stand out a bit...”, Jaune said

“That’s putting it lightly...”, Pyrrha added shaking her head, “What do you think Ruby?”

“I agree with Jaune”, Ruby answered.

They overheard a middle-aged woman speak, “What are students from Beacon doing on a train to Mistral? I hope they’re not lost.”

“Maybe we should change our clothes when we go out of town next time...”, Pyrrha suggested

###### Downtown Mistral - Haven Academy

The city appeared to be going through a transitional phase. There were many buildings that were unfinished and some were abandoned. On the way there they saw a tall building with no windows on the outskirts of town. It was a bit of an eyesore depressing to look at. The skyline would make you forget about all that though, as it gave off the appearance of a thriving city.

The alleys were lined with graffiti, nothing really different from Vale, but there was way more litter than they ever saw back in Vale.

“This is the more ‘dangerous’ part of Mistral, these streets aren’t very friendly...”, Pyrrha informed everyone.

“Please tell me we’re getting closer to the school...”, Weiss said looking around frantically. She really shouldn’t do that, but no one really wanted to say anything as that might make her more jumpy.

“We’re almost there, just a few more blocks”

They walked up to a school building with a dome on the top and surrounded by a vertical bar fence. One side was the ragged streets of Mistral, the other side was the complete opposite. It’d be like stepping into a new world. However they didn’t have time to admire the school, they couldn’t get too close without drawing suspension, so they headed for the nearest alley.

“So that’s Haven Academy? It looks out of place in this city”, Weiss commented.

“It’s well kept because students come from both Argus and Mistral, they have the funding to keep it in good condition”, Pyrrha explained.

Ruby pulled out her phone and input Lionheart’s name into the app, “You have reached your destination, please press ‘Begin’ to continue.”

“Is everyone ready?”, Ruby asked

“Yeah, let’s just make sure no one else is around...”, Jaune said as he looked around for anyone approaching them, “Alright it looks like the coast is clear! Let’s go!”

“Beginning navigation”, the app said as the sun quickly set and the moon rose to take its place. Nothing seemed different, in fact it was exactly the same, just the streets are now empty and the school was devoid of any students. All that was left to do was find Lionheart. They walked up to the gate, which was wide open.

“I wonder why Beacon is the only school that transforms...”, Jaune thought out loud.

“If what Ozpin told Ruby was true, there’s still a chance Shade or Atlas transforms.”, Weiss said

They entered the school, and saw no one. The school had a brown wooden floor and the lockers were painted light blue and gold, the colors of the school. Though their uniform consisted of black jackets and gray checkered patterned skirt for the girls, while the boys wore black or grey pants. They walked up the old fashioned wooden stairs that made a slight turn into the upper lobby. The area consisted of 2 chairs and a table in the middle, the walls on both sides had 2 glass cases, one for artists and the other was a trophy case. Adjacent to both was a hallway with classrooms in them. The dome most likely had the faculty office and the headmaster’s office.

They went in to see another set of wooden stairs that was shorter than their fist climb, they saw rows of empty desks with computers, quite eerie since it was dark.

“Lionheart! Are you here?”, Ruby shouted, nothing happened at first. This couldn’t be right, the app said they were at the access point, so what gives? Suddenly a door on the other side of the room opened, they saw an older man with bushy sandy brown hair and a mustache goatee. It made him look like...a lion?

“Who are you!?”, he said in a panicked tone, “Are you the ones who sent me that letter!?”

“What is he talking about?”, Weiss asked, “Ozpin didn’t send anything to him did he?”

“Ozpin!?”, the shadow reeled back, “I see, he doesn’t trust me so he sent you to kill me!!”

“What!? No! Wait!!”, Ruby pleaded but shadow Lionheart ran away closing the door behind him.

“Damn it! We just want to talk”, Jaune said as he ran after him.

They opened the door to the headmaster’s office but it was empty, one of his bookcases was opened to reveal a secret set of stairs that led to the roof. Jaune opened it first only to be met with a barrel rolling down the stairs. “Woah! What the hell!?”, Jaune exclaimed as he and everyone else nearly dodged.

“This is just irritating”, Weiss commented

Shadow Lionheart was trapped in a corner, he didn’t have anywhere else to go. He looked around frantically for a ladder leading to a fire escape but it was too late. Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha were slowly closing in on him. “Look, Professor Lionheart, we’re not here to hurt you, we just wanted to ask a few questions”, Ruby said.

“How do I know I can trust you!? How do I know you weren’t the ones who sent me that threatening letter!?”, the shadow asked. There was then a groaning sound, like something was waking up.

“What was that?”, Pyrrha asked

Jaune moved to the edge of the rooftop to see Shadows gathering towards the school. They weren’t outside when they activated the Nocturne a few minutes ago. What’s causing them to close in like that?

“Uhh...we have a bit of a problem!”, Jaune said, “Shadows just appeared out of nowhere!”

“Professor Lionheart, what letter are you talking about?”, Ruby asked, she had to know what made him so paranoid in the first place.

“A few days ago, my real self had a letter on my desk”, the shadow recounted, “Whoever wrote it had knowledge of the Nocturne and threatened attack my shadow. The only Persona users I was informed of were the ones from Beacon...”

“Who wrote it?”

“I... I don’t know...honestly, I don’t...”

“Are there any Persona users at your school?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know that...and I’m afraid to find out...”

“What a coward...”, Weiss said cynically

“Please! You have to understand the position we headmasters are in! If they have evil intentions nothing is stopping them from inducing a mental shutdown on us!!”

“We have to wrap this up quick guys! Shadows are starting to climb up the walls!”, Jaune said

“Is there anything else you’re keeping from Ozpin?”, Ruby asked

“There were 3 mental shutdowns that were classified as heart attacks 6 months ago, the victims are linked to a few students but I can't prove anything...that’s all I know....”

“We got what we needed?”, Pyrrha asked, “Let’s get out of here!”

They sprinted out of the school building and back to the area where they entered the Nocturne. Weiss and Jaune were breathing heavily because they weren’t used to running that hard. Ruby and Pyrrha were panting but less so.

“Alright let’s...head back for today”, Jaune suggested

“Let’s try not to leave in a rush next time, okay?”, Weiss said, “I’m not used to sprinting all the time like you guys!”

“You could run with me if you want to build your endurance”, Ruby offered

“I’ll pass”

“We should really be on our way, we might get caught by someone”, Pyrrha whispered as she began walking to the nearest train station. Everyone else quickly followed behind, but no one noticed that someone had their eye on them the entire time. They gave a slight smile and chuckle as they walked in the opposite direction.

“I think I’ll pay Lionheart a visit soon...”, they said as they walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick backstories on the 3 OCs introduced in this Chapter
> 
> Erin Vermilion, a graduate from Beacon Academy and former track star. Nothing gets her more excited than training the athletes of the future, though she may be too competitive at times. 
> 
> Xanadu Yamato, A Japanese-American who opened a small cafe in Vale many years ago. Inspired by a Japanese man who ran a similar business in Yongen-Jaya. He loved the cozy atmosphere in a secluded area in a large city. He has even attempted to emulate the coffee blends of that shop to this day.
> 
> Akina Yamato, The daughter of Xanadu who helps him run the shop. She graduated from Beacon recently, but decided to not attend college and help out. However she realized how much of the nightlife she's missing and prays for a part-timer to give her a night off. Despite this she gets along great with customers because of her charm and understanding. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I apologize if there are OCs with the same names. These characters won't play a pivotal role in the overall story, they're just characters made to help the world feel more alive.


	12. Lurking in The Shadows

###### Late Night

As Ruby laid down before going to sleep, she couldn’t stop thinking about Lionheart’s response to her question. There might be other Persona users out there, but they could be anyone and anywhere. This means the ordeals they face in the Nocturne could get more and more dangerous. Who might be abducted next? They could be more dangerous than Cardin. And if that weren’t enough, Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, they’re counting on her leadership. Do they really believe in Ruby to make the difficult decisions?

“Mom....where ever you are....please help me...”, Ruby whispered to herself. The pressure was a bit much, but there must be a reason why she was chosen to have the Wild Card ability. Ruby’s eyes got heavy, she was falling asleep.

She awoke in the Velvet Room yet again.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room”, Igor said, “It seems you managed to save your friends and have established more social links since our last meeting”

“Ah I see you have awoken the Priestess and Hierophant Arcana”, Julius said, “These bonds are very special, and they both represent wisdom in different ways. I, for one, am very excited to see how you utilize them in the near future.”

“Igor! Is there anyone else who has the power to summon a Persona besides me and my friends?”, Ruby asked, “I....I’m scared because I don’t know if they’re friendly or not...”

“That is beyond my knowledge, but if there are others with the same abilities, your paths will cross....”, Igor answered, “Until we meet again I’ll bid you farewell. Call upon us whenever you need our assistance.”

######  5/4 -> 5/6 - Monday - After School - Heavy Rain

Ruby met with Ozpin to discuss what she found out from Lionheart’s shadow. She recounted the events that took place and talked about how scared and paranoid his shadow was.

“I had a feeling he was hiding something. Oh Leonardo...what happened to you?”, Ozpin commented

“What worries me the most is that there might be other Persona users out there, and we don’t know their intentions”, Ruby added

“That is very worrying, at the same time being paranoid will cause inaction....”

“What should we do?”

“I’ll talk to Lionheart, I think it’s best if you stay on the lookout for anything suspicious”, Ozpin suggested.

“Oh right”, Ruby remembered something, “there were 3 mental shutdowns a few months ago in Mistral, they were all written off as heart attacks. Headmaster Lionheart was looking into it but couldn’t find anything.”

This caused Ozpin’s eyes to widen, “Three possible mental shutdowns!? Now I see why Lionheart was so afraid, he was worried he’d be next!”

The older man got up from his desk and looked out the window, “If you ever go to Mistral or Argus, be careful.”

“Do you think the culprits are there?”

“No, but we shouldn’t rule anything out”, Ozpin answered, “Just act as a normal student for now, and rescue people who get abducted into the Nocturne.”

“Okay...”, Ruby got up and headed for the door, she gave a look back at Ozpin, his expression was serious and full of concern. He was scared. She then exited and closed the door.

“It is happening again...” Ozpin clutched his cane, “All I can do is hope and pray nothing happens to them....”

###### Haven Academy - Lionheart's Office

Meanwhile in Mistral, the headmaster of Haven Academy Leonardo Lionheart sat nervously at his desk, a figure with yellow eyes looked at him with an intimidating glare. To think they were a student.

“So Professor, won’t you tell me all about what’s really going on?”, they said knowing he had nowhere to run or hide.

“What do you want from me? If you’ve already talked to my shadow than you should already know...” Lionheart trailed off.

“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page, as one of your students, I can’t believe you and the other headmasters were holding in such a big secret from everyone”, they paused to look out the window, “If what your shadow told me was true, the headmaster of Beacon wants to know about others with the same power that I have.”

“Y-you do!?” Lionheart said with a terrified look on his face, “When did you-?"

“I’m asking the questions here”, they walked back in front of his desk with such confidence, they knew they could talk to him however they wanted, "I saw them the other day leaving Mistral, do you know their names?"

"Please tell me....you won't hurt them..."

They just gave an evil smile, "Well, if they don't get in my way they'll be fine. I'd be more worried about your safety"

They knew how much of a coward he was, making him choose between himself and a teenager he had no connection to wasn't hard. However, he still had a hint of remorse in him. If the Beacon students were to be harmed, he'll have no one to blame but himself. 

"Their names are Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, and Ruby Rose...", Lionheart felt dirty after saying that, he might have just signed their death warrants.

"Thank you Professor Lionheart. You don't have to worry, I'll be on my best behavior", the student then headed towards the door to leave, then they turned, "You’re going to be an extraordinary source of information. I mean it’d be a shame if you had an 'unfortunate accident'...”

###### 5/7 - Tuesday - After School - Cloudy

All extracurricular activities had been postponed the week before exams, so Ruby and her friends decided to study in a group at a diner near the school. They sat at a table sharing a basket of fries. Weiss and Pyrrha were studying mathematics, Jaune was reviewing his history notes, and Ruby was studying literature. The had been studying for a few hours now, Weiss showed no signs of slowing down, the same couldn't be said for the rest of them. Jaune had his head down, Pyrrha was getting bored, and Ruby was reading something completely unrelated. 

"You all can't be serious, how can you not take your studies seriously?", Weiss asked

"I think we all need a break...", Pyrrha sighed then yawned.

"Yeah, it gets boring after a while...", Jaune added.

They chatted about various things, it hadn't really occurred to them that they really didn't know each other very well. They came together because they had a common goal, now they're actually hanging out like friends. As far as they knew, the only thing they had in common was that they have a persona. Ruby knew of Jaune's past, but she didn't know much about Pyrrha and Weiss, besides the fact that she was a Schnee. The even weirder part wasn't them, it was Ruby herself.

Weiss sighed, her phone buzzed, the caller ID read ‘Father’. She scoffed, loud enough for everyone to take notice.

“Who was that?”, asked Ruby

“Oh it was no one....” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, they already knew she was a member of the Schnee family, there really wasn’t any point in hiding it any longer. “It was my father...”

“Isn’t he a super busy CEO? He must be super worried about you.”, Jaune said. Weiss then shook her head.

“That what you’d think, but it’s the complete opposite”, she was only going to tell them the abridged version of her story, “He’s worried people will find out who I am, and since he and I aren’t on the best of terms he thinks I’ll spill the beans to the media out of spite.”

“So he wants to keep you close so he can keep tabs on you”, Pyrrha said

“Exactly, and if that weren’t enough he found out there’s a White Fang group here in Vale”

“The White Fang? Aren’t they a political activist group?” said Jaune, he had vaguely heard about them, but didn’t really pay it any mind.

_Wait...I remember that. It was when I first came to Vale about a month ago..._ , Ruby thought to herself

“The group has a grudge against my family’s company, all because of that disastrous mine incident in Mistral. It had to be closed because the working conditions were so poor and it had a huge negative impact on both the city of Mistral and the environment surrounding it...”, Weiss turned away ashamedly, “I remember that day, my father was beyond angry...”

“Wow that’s...tough...” Pyrrha commented.

“And father changed that day, he drove my sister away, my mom is....”, she stopped, she didn’t want to get into that, “After them he tried to keep me and my brother on a tight leash”

“You have a brother?”

“Yeah but we don’t talk very often”, Weiss answered, “Anyway my sister joined the military after she graduated from Atlas. She doesn’t want anything to do with my father, so she moved to Vale. The military pays well, but she’s always so busy...”

“I didn’t think you had it this bad...” Ruby said.

“Enough of my life though. I’m pretty curious about you Ruby”, Weiss looked at the short redhead.

“Yeah, now that I think about it, you haven’t talked about your past at all. I know that Yang’s your older sister, but that’s it...”

_I guess I should tell them, though...it’ll hurt a little to talk about..._

_No...I can do this..._

“Well I grew up in Patch, a city pretty far from here with my dad and Yang. My mother died when I was young, I wasn’t ever told the details, my dad has never talked about it ever...”

“You’re mother died when you were young? That’s horrible...” Pyrrha said

“Part of the reason I wanted to go to Beacon is because all my family went there. I also wanted to know more about my mother since my dad won’t talk about her...”, Ruby looked down, “I...I’m so afraid of losing anyone, I can’t just sit by and let someone die. I...I don’t want anyone to go through the same pain I’ve gone through all my life...”

“So that’s why you protected me the other day...”, Weiss said.

“I try to see the best in everyone too, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I let a petty grudge blind me.”, Ruby looked up, “I wanna be just like those heroes I read about in those fairy tales too, they always did the right thing even in the most difficult situations...”

“Huh, maybe you aren’t as big of a Dolt as I thought you were...”, Weiss said causing everyone to erupt in laughter, the group decided to call it a day and headed back to the dorms. The relationship between the newly formed team was stronger than it was before. Now all they had to worry about was exams.

###### 5/8 -> 5/13 - Monday - Exam Week

After a week of studying, it was finally here, Exam week. Though it was technically Midterms, it was no less important, Oobleck walked through the door then said, "Take your seats, it's time to begin.

###### 5/13 -> 5/16 Thursday - Last Day of Exams

With all the studying Ruby put in, she felt confident about her performance. She even managed to finish before the teacher could say 'Time's up'.

"Alright, hand in your exams.", Glynda said, "Hey, I see you changing your answer, I said pencils down!"

Midterm exams were over, Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she left her classroom. She saw Weiss then said, "It's finally over!!"

"They weren't that bad, besides that was only the beginning", Weiss responded. She had a confident smile on her face, it was understandable considering that she studies the most out of all of them. "I'm not going to embarrass myself, especially when they post everyone's grade in the hallway..."

"They do what?"

"You didn't know? They post your scores for all to see, if you get a low score everyone will know...", Weiss then paused, "But...if you do good well...people will think more highly of you."

Ruby thought to herself, _I hope I get good grades...I don't want to look like a fool who doesn't study..._

###### Evening - Partly Cloudy

On the eastern outskirts of Vale, the streets were mostly empty at night as this was a residential area, however its rate of crime was much higher than the other neighborhoods and districts. It was the perfect place for shady groups and gangs to hideout for long periods of time. Most are advised not to venture here alone at night because of how dangerous some of the people can be. At a corner store, there was an apartment complex, or at least it used to be one, was the hideout for the White Fang. The White Fang is an eco-terrorist/political activist group that originally formed in the city of Mistral to combat the corruption of the city and protested the actions of the Schnee Diamond and Mining Company. Mistral has very weak leadership, and often at the mercy of crime rings, this weak leadership in turn allowed the SDMC to come in and promise the people a gate to a better life. In reality, the company used the tax money to subsidize their losses and fill their pockets while most were subjugated to harsh and unsafe work environments.

The current leader, Sienna Khan was a former employee of the SDMC. She was fed up with having to work in harsh conditions, seeing many of her coworkers injured or sometimes dead, but then being sexually harassed by one of the higher ups, she beat him which lead to her being fired. She despised the SDMC, the City of Mistral for allowing them to do this, and wanted to change it all. She worked with a man named Ghira, who was protesting the SDMC for its affect on the environment, to create the White Fang. Some of the runoff from the mines went into the rivers which went to Menagerie, a small city southeast of Mistral, contaminating their drinking water. They managed to work together to get rid of the mayor of Mistral at the time and got the government regulate the SDMC. This occurred years ago.

However, Sienna has another goal in mind: stop the same thing from happening to other cities in the area. This lead to different branches being set up in different cities, all ran by people Sienna trusted herself. In recent years, their activism has transitioned to vigilantism and eco-terrorism. Their tactics became more aggressive and violent, these weren’t Sienna’s orders though, they were the orders of the branch’s leader: Adam Taurus. Thanks to the actions of another criminal, they aren’t the top priority of the Vale Police Department, but after a botched train robbery they can’t afford another failure. Lest they want the ire of Sienna Khan. Adam and his group of 6 activists were currently laying low and planning their next course of action.

“...It appears that there’ll be truck delivery this week. We can catch it on the freeway as it goes through downtown.”

“I see, we’ll have to be a little more careful this time...” Adam said, LAN line phone rang as he continued looking at the plan they were setting up, “First we follow the truck when it goes through the tunnel, we surround it, one of us will take out the driver, while the truck is pulled over we take as much as we can then—“

“Adam! It’s Sienna! She wishes to speak with you!”

“Interrupting me while I’m speaking...?” Adam looked at his subordinate through his mask.

“I’m sorry sir! It’s urgent!”

Adam snatched the phone from him, “Yes Ms. Khan?”

“Adam, I need you to return to Mistral as soon as possible!”

“What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter? I heard you went on another one of your reckless ‘missions’!!” Sienna angrily responded, “What the hell were you thinking!? Now they see us as a group of criminals!”

“I apologize, I’ll be more careful next time” said Adam, “Let me make it up to you with this next plan, we’re going after a delivery truck. It’s supposed to have some valuables on board, if we get them it’ll definitely be a huge blow to the company....”

Sienna was silent, she didn't seem enthusiastic about the idea, "Adam, please don't do it...the SDMC isn't the only evil in the world, you've done enough..."

This confused Adam, nothing they have done so far was enough he thought, "But Sienna...why? If we retreat now our message will be forgotten!"

"You're sending the wrong message, we may have sabotaged their equipment in the past which lead to others getting hurt, but terrorizing one company like this will make us predictable. They might have a trap set up", Sienna explained, she was very concerned, "Now I'll ask you one last time: return to Mistral and lay low until they give up the search. I'll give you a week, if you're not here by then, I'll personally drag you back myself!"

The phone then hung up, Adam was at a loss for words. He wasn't sure what to do, he stood silent for a moment until one of his men spoke up, “Adam, what did she say?”

“...She wants us to carry out this job in a week then return to Mistral once we’re done”, Adam said, he knew he was lying but he wanted to show her that this method works, or at least that’s what he kept telling himself. “Sienna will see it my way soon enough...”

###### 5/17 - Friday - Early Morning - Cloudy

Ruby was eating breakfast with Blake and Yang when they heard a phone ringing. It wasn’t Ruby’s and it wasn’t Yang’s, Blake pulled hers out. She looked at it annoyed and put it back in her pocket.

“You might want to put that on silent, Blake” Yang said with a chuckle

“Who would be calling you this early in the morning?” asked Ruby

“I didn’t recognize the number, it was probably a phone scammer or wrong number”, Blake seemed a little more agitated than usual.

“Is everything alright?” Yang asked

“Y-yeah, I’m fine I just...I’ve been a bit stressed out lately...”, she then got up to leave, “I just remembered I need to take care of something at school and I have to do it before school begins...”

She quickly walked away, “I’ll pay you back later Yang”.

“Must be urgent...”, commented Ruby

“No kidding...” said Yang

######  Afternoon - Cloudy 

In between classes, Blake received another phone call. She knew exactly who it was. She pressed the answer button, “Will you give it a rest already!? What do you want?”

“I miss that passion of yours, I like that side of you...”

“What do you want!? If you don’t tell me I will call the police on you!”

“I need to speak with you...in person...”

“Why? Tell me why!” Blake said, all that she heard the dial tone showing that he hung up as she said that.

“What am I going to do?”, said Blake as she sulked to the ground.

“What’s going on Blake?”, a familiar voice said from behind catching her off guard.

“Y-Yang?”, she thought she was alone, was Yang following her?

“I-I’m sorry, I was just in the area and you looked stressed out”, Yang paused. “You’re my friend Blake, you can tell me anything, it doesn’t matter what it is. I’m just a little worried, that’s all.”

Blake crossed her arms and turned away, “...Yang....I...”, this was difficult to talk about for her. Blake was afraid of her past and what people would think of her. Especially Yang, if she found out the details of her situation she’d probably try to do something about it. “I don’t want to say too much but, a while back I knew this guy, I was so sure he was honest, caring, and passionate, but over time that mask slipped off. I saw him for the monster he really was...”

“So relationship issues?” Yang jokingly said, of course she didn’t understand the gravity of her situation, Blake didn’t want her to know.

“In a way...yes”

Yang’s eyes widened, “Wait, you’re serious?”

“But it’s not that simple! I can’t let you get involved...”, Blake turned to leave until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Blake if you need space, that’s fine, but if there’s anything I can do to help you please tell me. You don’t have to do it alone!” Yang gave her the most serious look she has ever given since the time they met. This was exactly what Blake feared, but she had to do it herself even if it meant cutting herself off from her closest friend.

“Thank you Yang, I appreciate your concern, but this is something only I can do...” Blake said as she walked away quickly.

The blonde stood there distraught, “Why doesn’t she trust me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell already, Faunus don't exist in this AU, so the White Fang isn't a terrorist organization wanting equality between races, this time they're an political activist group that formed with former Schnee Diamond and Mining Company employees and the citizens of Menagerie who's water was polluted because of the waste. The White Fang here isn't as large as it was in the show.


	13. Bonds

###### After School - Cloudy

Ruby and Pyrrha trained hard today, their coach pushed them to their limits. They both laid out on the turf field which was oddly comfortable. After a while, a few more of their teammates joined them.

“Come on ladies! That’s not all you’ve got right?”, Vermillion said, “(Maybe I did push them too hard...) Okay, just jog one more lap and we’re done for the day.”

The jog was easy for everyone, and it was over quickly. Now all the was left was to take the equipment inside. Pyrrha and Ruby were taking in the poles for the pole vault in, as they walked in they overheard a few of their teammates talking.

“Why is the coach expecting us to go above and beyond every day? Does she think we’re all Pyrrha?”

“She must, there’s no other explanation”

“I’m glad she helps us win meets, but sometimes I wish she wasn’t on the team. We all have to be compared to her.”

Ruby turned to Pyrrha who had a sad look on her face, “I’ll take the rest in you can go home...”, she offered

“N-no it’s fine, I’m used to hearing people talk about me like that...”, Pyrrha responded.

They walked past the girls who trashed Pyrrha, she didn’t even make eye contact with them. They got their stuff from the locker room and began heading home for the day.

“Pyrrha, why are you used to people saying all those horrible things behind your back?”, Ruby asked. The tall redhead turned to face Ruby, she crossed her arms. It was like she was trying to remember something she didn't want to.

“It’s been going on for a while, since my childhood in fact...”, Pyrrha trailed off, “When I was in Elementary school, I didn’t have too many friends, but I loved doing track. Ever since my mom bought me a toy javelin. I practiced even when I didn’t have to, and all that hard work paid off.”

“How was that a bad thing?”, Ruby asked

“Well...There was a track meet for kids one day. There was no contest, I was undoubtedly the best athlete that day. So good in fact that the children complained and their parents were with them. All I received were looks of disdain and hatred.”

“That sounds a bit petty...”

Pyrrha laughed a little, “You’re right, they didn’t realize that I just trained and put the work in. Their kid didn’t. Even my mother was being ridiculed by the other parents, even through all that she still smiled at me. It was the only reason I got through that day without breaking down.”

“But it still hurt didn’t it?”

“It did, and I’ll never forget that day. I didn’t do anything to deserve that. It got better during middle school and now it’s practically unnoticeable in high school. But as you saw, people still want to blame me for everything just because I’m considered the best...”

“I’ll stand by you no matter what Pyrrha!”, Ruby assured her.

Pyrrha smiled, it looks like she let a lot off her chest, "Sometimes I wonder if I'm too nice...Should I be more...assertive?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like maybe I should stop being so kind to everyone, especially when they have no respect for me...", Pyrrha said in a slightly aggressive tone.

Ruby took a moment to think, Pyrrha was holding in a lot of frustrations and wasn't sure how to handle it. "I honestly...don't know...", Ruby wanted to be of help to her but didn't know what to say, "But I'm here for you!"

She tried being optimistic, and it was enough to get Pyrrha to calm down, "Thanks Ruby...I'm glad I can talk to you whenever." 

Ruby learned about another side of Pyrrha, she probably didn't want to show people that side. After that conversation, they walked to the train station together and headed back to the dorms.

###### Evening - Scattered Thunderstorms

The rain was coming down heavily, Ruby ran across the street to the dorms. It rarely happened, but she was not ready for a thunderstorm. Besides trying to stay dry, she was thinking about what she could do to help Pyrrha. What could she really do? She entered the dormitory a little wet, piled on with her track practice earlier that day, she was beat, so she decided to go to sleep.

######  5/18 - Saturday - After School 

With there being no new leads or anyone mysteriously disappearing. Track was cancelled because of an event going on, and Pyrrha was volunteering. Jaune was busy too, as was Yang and Blake. That only left Weiss, but would she be interested at all? They were teammates after all, and it would be good to get to know each other.

Weiss was in the hallway looking at the announcement board, she had her arms crossed and looked at it intensely. Ruby snuck up to he and then said, “Hey Weiss!”  
The white haired girl jumped up, “Could you please not do that!?”  
“Oh...uh...sorry...”  
“What do you want?”  
“I just wanted to hang out with you, Weiss!”  
Weiss looked confused for a second, “Hang out...?” She didn’t seem too interested, and Ruby was having second thoughts.

“Fine”, Weiss said, “But only because we’re working together”

“Do you want to go anywhere?”, Ruby asked  
“Actually, let’s go to that fast food restaurant nearby”, Weiss answered. This came as a surprise to Ruby, she assumed someone as wealthy as Weiss would be repulsed at the idea of going to a fast food restaurant. However it’s what she wanted so she might as well go along with her.

They went to a restaurant known as Big Bang Burger. Ironically it originated in Japan and made its way to the United States, usually it’s the other way around. However thanks to new management, the restaurant chain was set at a higher standard. Their chain named the healthiest fast food restaurant in the world.

“Big Bang Burger? Why here?”, Ruby asked  
“I’ve spent most of my life eating at fancy restaurants and having meals cooked for me, I just want to give this place a try”, Weiss answered

They both ordered a regular burger, but was surprised to see the gargantuan sandwich in front of them.

“Um...this seems a little...big?”, Weiss said  
Ruby looked at it, the burger was big, but she didn’t want to turn down the challenge. Suddenly she was digging in much to Weiss’s shock. Ruby was wolfing it down quickly, almost as if she was trying to eat it all in one go. After about 5 minutes, Ruby was laying on the table belly full, she couldn’t eat another bite. All that was left of the burger was a corner, she was so close to finishing it off. However the thought of taking another bite was disgusting to her.

“Ruby! Why did you do that!?”, Weiss asked  
“I...don’t know...I just saw it as a challenge and I wanted to see if I could do it...”, Ruby said as her stomach was beginning to force it out of her, she rushed to the restroom. After vomiting 15% of the food up, she returned to the table.

“I guess I wanted to do something memorable today”, Ruby explained, “It’s a special day when I get to hang out with you!”  
This caused Weiss to giggle and break out in a little laugh, “Now that I think about it, I haven’t really had fun like this before. I’ve always had to be so formal all the time”, Weiss said with a smile on her face.

They left the restaurant and were headed towards the train station, but on the way they saw an arcade. It’s wasn’t as big as the one in the entertainment district, but was eye catching.

“I’ve never really been to an arcade...”, Weiss said. Ruby smiled brightly as she grabbed Weiss’s hand and took her inside.  
“Wait! What are you doing you dolt!?”  
“Come on Weiss, let’s play some games!”, Ruby said  
“Games? What kind of games?”  
“Oh you know, video games, do you want to play Gun About or Innocent Gear Revolution 3?”  
“I....I’ve never heard of those games before...”  
“Don’t worry I’ll show you how to play!”

First the played Gun About, a popular shooting game. They both grabbed the plastic guns hooked up to the machine and started the game.

“Okay Weiss, all you have to do is point the gun at the screen and fire!”

They played on the easiest difficulty, Ruby picked it because she wanted Weiss to get a feel for the game and understand it. She had to cover for Weiss a few times as she wasn’t prepared for some enemies jumping out at her.

“Gaaah! They just keep flying out of nowhere!!”, Weiss shouted, “Ahhh!!” She then fired her gun rapidly because she was scared.

“GAME OVER!!”, the machine said. Ruby’s efforts weren’t enough

“L-let’s play something else...”, Weiss said feeling like she failed and is saving herself the embarrassment.

Innocent Gear Revolution 3 was a fighting game known for its in-depth mechanics and gameplay. Ruby played this with Yang and their father back at home all the time. She wasn’t professional, but good enough to where she had fun.

“Come on Weiss! It’ll be fun!”, Ruby said trying to encourage her.  
“A fighting game? I heard these were difficult”, Weiss said  
“Aw, that’s a myth, all it takes is hard work and dedication to get better!”,

They began a match, Ruby picked her favorite character and she recommended a character for Weiss to play with. It wasn’t going so well for her.

“Weiss just move the stick down and to the left, THEN press Slash!”  
“I keep forgetting which button it is!!”, Weiss complained

“K. O.!!! Player 1: WIN!!”

Weiss crossed her arms and pouted a bit.

“Oh come on Weiss! It was just one loss!”  
“Yeah, sure...”  
After that they left, the arcade, and while Weiss was pretty hot after losing, she cooled off.

“To be honest Ruby, even though I lost both those games I actually had a little fun”, She said with a small smile on her face, “My family never really let us go to an arcade before. We could always go on expensive trips, but never anything as simple as going to place like that.”

“So you want to come back?”, Ruby asked

“Of course! And next time I’ll beat you!”, Weiss said pointing at Ruby, “I won’t allow myself to fall behind”

“You’re really getting into this aren’t you?”, Ruby said rubbing the back of her head

“I’ve never really felt challenged in a long time, it makes me feel excited because it shows I still have a lot to learn”, Weiss explained, “And I love learning above all else.”

She paused for a second then continued, “My family is large but distant and I never really spent time with them like this...I hope we can hang out more often...”

“Well Weiss, just give me a call anytime!”, Ruby said pumping her first. She learned more about Weiss and discovered a different side of her.

###### Evening - Clear Skies

Elsewhere, Blake was reading a book in her room. It was difficult for her to concentrate because of her situation. She got startled when she heard a knock at her window. She hesitated to see what hit it, and it was her worst nightmare: Adam. He knew Blake’s room was next to the fire escape, if anyone wanted to they could climb up. However the ladder is usually too high up for anyone to get there.

Blake opened the window, and Adam immediately covered her mouth. “Easy now, I don’t want anyone to interrupt us, my love....”

She immediately swatted his hand away and glared at him with anger, “Why the hell are you here!? Stop harassing me!”

“I had to get your attention somehow, there’s something important I need to tell you...”

“Adam, I’m not coming back, especially after all the things we did, I can’t do that anymore—“

“I’m pulling off one more mission before I have to return to Mistral, we have been labeled as criminals here, and we can’t deliver justice to those demons from the SDMC”

“Justice!? What Justice!?” Blake snapped back, “How is hurting and injuring the people justice? Destroying equipment? Robbing delivery trucks? That’s not what I want! And it never was!”

Adam’s face turned blank and he turned around, “Fine. You’ll see it my way soon enough”

He then leapt off into the night, Blake told him off, but did it get through to him? Probably not, he has never listened to her. Blake never intended on speaking with him ever again, a few months ago they had an argument which caused their secret relationship had come to an end. Even though she was 2 years behind him she was infatuated with him. Blake thought everything about him was amazing, and he seemed to enjoy her presence too. They stayed in contact for a long time, but eventually Adam graduated and because he didn’t have money to go to college, he had to work for the SDMC. He told Blake about the harsh working conditions and how badly he was treated. This made Blake furious and more devoted to protesting the company. He quit the day an “incident” happened, at that point he changed. Or more like, his real face was about to show. He resorted to attacking employees, sabotaging mining equipment, going after delivery trucks, and even robbed a train carrying the excavations. Blake couldn’t take it anymore and left, but she was afraid her past would catch up to her. Now her fears are being realized.

###### 5/19 - Sunday - Daytime - Sunny

Ruby walked down to the lobby and she thought 'What to do on a Sunday?' She had hung out with everyone else this week except Jaune. It wouldn’t hurt to hang out with him a little. She pulled out her phone to text him.

R: Hey Jaune, do you have any plans for the day?

J: No not really

J: Actually, there has been something on my mind

J: If you want you could meet me at the comic store in Feldspar.

R: Okay, sounds good.

Ruby hadn’t been there since Yang showed her around the city. Of course she didn’t really have time until now, she was still adjusting to city life. Anyway now all she had to do was find the comic book shop. She walked down the sidewalk past a few restaurants and pawn shops, until she came up to a storefront that was covered in posters of movies and anime, the sign read Comix and Hobbies Shop. Ruby rolled her eyes at the very simple name, but that’s not what she’s here for. As she opened the door, a spiky blond haired boy suddenly appeared and opened the door for her.

“Oh thanks!”, Ruby said

“No problem!”, the boy said. He was wearing a white shirt with most of the buttons open to reveal his muscular chest, he was also wearing a pair of light blue jeans slightly rolled up, and a pair of black tennis shoes. He had an arcade stick in his right hand. Seems he was into fighting games. She went into see the store was divided into 2 parts. The comic shop , and a room full of tables and TVs with consoles hooked up to them. Boys and girls were there, looks like this was an event of some kind.

“Hey Ruby! Over here!”, a familiar voice said, he was standing by one of the book displays  
“What’s up Jaune?”, Ruby said  
“Remember how you guys found out I cheated my way into Beacon? Well it’s time I proved I belong there”, Jaune said, “That’s why...”  
“What do you need me for?”, Ruby asked  
“I need to become a stronger person! I have to find out my strengths and weaknesses so I can find a way to live up to my family’s legacy!”

Jaune was getting pretty animated as he continued, “You remember how I told you my grandfather was a war hero, and my dad was great baseball player and now he’s a lawyer? I need to find the thing that drives me!”  
“Well what do you have in mind? You’re already on the baseball team right?”, Ruby asked  
“Yes I am, but I’m not really a standout player yet”, said Jaune humbling himself, “I have an idea! Get your exercise clothes on! We’re going to the park!”

It was still early in the day, so Ruby didn’t see any harm in going to Timberwolf Park. The park is considered to be a state park and historical landmark. It also wasn’t too far from Beacon. Ruby and Jaune ran for a few hours, but she wasn’t sure what his plan was. That is until they made it to the summit of one of the hills.

“Ruby, you know how they say you feel better once you’ve climbed a mountain?”, Jaune asked  
“Not...really...”, Ruby replied not understanding what he said. He probably made it up for all she knew.  
“Well that’s the first step to building one’s confidence!”  
“Were you having confidence issues?”  
“Well to be honest, yes”  
He looked towards the ocean and connecting river, “My dad took me out here a few years ago, he wanted to fish with his son just like he did.”  
“Did you catch anything?”, Ruby asked  
“Eh, no. Buuut our trip go cut short because I got stung by a bee, and apparently I wouldn’t stop crying...”  
“Ouch...”  
“Yeah, not one of my best memories. But ever since that day, I wanted to make up for that. I didn’t want my dad to think I was weak...”  
“Are you sure that’s what he thinks? Does he still treat you with respect?”  
“Yeah, but we don’t talk as much as we used to...”, Jaune paused, “When I told him I made the baseball team, he sounded like he was pleased, but he didn’t say anything like ‘atta boy, just like your old dad’.”

Ruby thought for a second, “Maybe he doesn’t expect you to follow in his footsteps?”  
“Wait do you think he wants me to quit? Or maybe he knows that I’ll never be as good as him!!”, Jaune said clutching his head with both hands.  
“No...I don’t it’s that either...”  
“Then—“, Jaune paused as he noticed the sun was beginning to set, “Oh crap, we have to head back!”  
The park didn’t allow people to stay over night unless they had permission from the Park Rangers. They could get in serious trouble if they were caught at night.

They followed the trail back to the entrance, it was slightly more difficult to traverse, but overall it wasn’t too bad. Halfway down, they heard someone crying, it sounded like a child.

“Uh oh, that’s not good...”, Jaune commented  
“I agree, but where are they? I heard the forest has mountain lions and other ferocious creatures!”, Ruby added  
“You just had to say that...”  
“Hey I do my research!”  
They closed in on the crying, it was a boy about 7 years old, he was definitely lost.

“Hey, kid!”, Jaune yelled out and the child looked at him and ran towards them. As he continued to weep, he asked, “What happened? Where are your parents?”  
Through the muffled crying he heard, “I-I-I ran away from home—because my mom yelled at me for coming home late”, the child then started coughing.  
“Well you’re family is probably worried about you!”, Ruby said  
“Come on kid, let’s get you home, everything will be okay...”, Jaune said which calmed the kid down.

Once they made it to the entrance they handed him off to the park rangers who in turn called the police to return the kid to his parents. All the time Jaune was able to keep the kid calm assured him that running away wasn’t the answer.

“Look, I know it’s rough, but your mom was just worried about you”, Jaune explained to him, “It’s because they care that they yell at you, they can’t imagine losing you like that. Now promise me that you’ll apologize to your mom when you get home, okay?”  
“Okay mister...”, the kid responded.

_Maybe Jaune just found his calling, he handled it better than I would’ve..._ ,Ruby thought to herself, _but we really need to get back..._

###### Evening - Clear Skies

A SDMC truck was traveling on the highway, the traffic was light. Behind it were 3 vans that were gaining on it as it went into a tunnel. One of the vans got closer to the truck and slid the door open. It got close enough for a person to grab onto the railing. They then opened the door startling the driver.

“Hey pal”, the masked man said, “I need you to pull over and stop the truck, NOW!!” The driver complied, the other vans parked haphazardly behind it. The rest of the White Fang members exited their vans.

“Let’s move! Grab whatever’s in there and let’s get out of here!” Adam pointed to one of the masked men, “Yuma, open it up.”

Yuma jumped up and opened the truck, he was then met with a group of heavily armed people who pointed assault rifles at him.

“Don’t. Move.” One of them said

“It’s a trap!!!” Yuma yelled as they tackled him to the ground. Adam and the rest of his group panicked, they all scrambled to their vans.

“Hey we can’t leave Yuma behind!!”, one of them said as they heard sirens approaching them. The armed guards had a trap set up with the police. There was no time to escape in the vans, they needed another escape plan. Adam spotted a door then ran to the concrete barrier that separated the lanes to a maintenance door, he signaled for any survivors to follow him, but it was too late, the cops were closing in and he didn’t have any time to attempt a rescue. He ran through the hallway not knowing where it’d lead him, but he couldn’t stand still for too long otherwise he’d get caught. He went further underground which lead him to the subway tunnels. A train zoomed by, after it passed he jumped down. Adam had at least 7 minutes before the next train zoomed by.

He could only think of 2 things: the mission was a failure and he couldn’t return to the White Fang. There’s no way a coward who abandoned his own team would be accepted back. Eventually, Adam saw a station, he ran up the steps then made his way out of the station. People were giving him strange looks as it wasn't common to see someone running from off the subway lines. He already heard sirens when he made it to street level. So he went to a nearby alley. Most of the buildings were abandoned, so he kicked the door to a building, any of them will do. He shut it then barricaded it with whatever he could find. He then collapsed from exhaustion, taking massive deep breaths and sweating profusely. The crimson haired man walked to the next room hoping that he'd be safe. 

It was over, no matter which way he looked at it. Sienna would never forgive him, none of the White Fang Members would never forgive him, and most importantly Blake wouldn't forgive him. He was supposed to be her hero, her savior. She once told him that she admired his passion and resolve. But the last time they spoke Blake said he was nothing but a revenge seeking beast. From that day onwards, he wanted to prove to her that he wasn't. However that was impossible now.

Adam went into the next room where he found a mirror, he looked himself in the eye. He removed his mask, what he sees always makes him infuriated. It’s what kept him going against the SDMC for so long.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!” He shouted as he punched the mirror causing it to shatter, “I HAVE TO MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT THEY’VE DONE!!!!!” He began trashing the room he didn’t care what it was.

“I’LL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!”

The room was darker than it was originally, it was partially illuminated under the street lights but now it was only illuminated by the moon. Adam was too furious to notice this change.

“Is that what you desire?” A figure clad in black which suddenly appeared behind him said. Adam turned around very quickly, his blood ran cold, he had seen nothing like this before. It was difficult to tell if it was hostile or friendly. “You’re afraid your about to lose everything, aren’t you? Then allow me to help you....”

“What the hell are you!?” Adam said cowering, yet his feet moved close towards her. It was both terrifying yet welcoming. The figure reached out its hand, Adam accepted it. Then he was engulfed in darkness, but he wasn’t afraid...not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've played any modern Persona game (i.e. Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5) you know that social links are an important part of the game, however in the interest of time and not boring my audience, I treat every hangout as the equivalent of ranks 2 through 4. Also I apologize for the slow updates as school has returned and that takes priority.


End file.
